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THE 


CABINET  CYCLOPAEDIA. 

CONDUCTED  BY  THE 

REV.  DIONYSIUS  LARDNER,  LL.D.  F.R.S.  L.  &  E. 

M.  R.  I.  A.  F.  R.  A.  S.  F.  L.  S.  F.  Z.  S.  Hon.  F.  C.  P.  S.  &x.  &c. 

ASSISTED  BY 
EMINENT  LITERARY  AND  SCIENTIFIC  MEN. 


USEFUL  ARTS. 


A 

TREATISE 

ON  THE'  ' 

ORIGIN,  PROGRESSIVE  IMPROVEMENT,  AND  PRESENT  STATE 
OF  THE 

SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


CAREY  &  LEA— CHESTNUT  STREET. 
1832. 


TREATISE 


ORIGIN,  PROGRESSIVE  IMPROVEMENT, 


PRESENT  STATE 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


CAREY  &  LEA — CHESTNUT  STREET. 

1832. 


"  The  Arts  may  be  said  to  imitate  Nature,  or  to  help,  or  to  overcome 
and  advance  Nature :  nor  are  they  therefore  to  be  esteemed  less  noble 
because  more  practical,  since  our  best  and  most  divine  knowledge  is 
intended  for  action ;  and  those  may  justly  be  counted  barren  studies, 
w  hich  do  not  conduce  to  practice  as  their  proper  end." 

Bishop  Wilkins. 


STEREOTYPED  BY  J.  HOWE- 


THE  GETTY  CENTER 
UBHARY 


LIST  OF  WOOD  ENGRAVINGS. 


Page 

1.  Silkworms    98 

2.  Cocoons    100 

3.  Chrysalis    101 

4.  Moths    104 

5.  Frame  with  Slides  or  Drawers  for  Worms    117 

6.  Arbors  for  Silkworms  to  spin    120 

7.  Reeling-machine    155 

8.  Winding-machine   167 

9.  Thro  wing-machine   169 

10.  Doubling-machine   172 

11.  Silk-loom   180 

12.  Part  of  Do.  (Batten)   182 

13.  Shuttle    185 

14.  Diagram  descriptive  of  the  Method  of  giving  "a  Pearl  edge" 

to  Ribands    191 

15.  Movable  Shuttle-boxes    195 

16.  Diagram  descriptive  of  plain  Weaving    196 

17.  Ditto  of  twilled  Weaving    ib. 

18.  Jacquard-machine,  fig.  1   202 

19.  Needle  of  ditto    203 

20.  Revolving  Bar  of  ditto    ib. 

21.  Perforated  Card-slips  of  ditto    204 

22.  Jacquard-machine,  fig.  2   206 

23.  Jennings's  Improvement  on  the  Jacquard-machine    210 

24.  Part  of  ditto  (perforated  board)    211 

25.  Design  Paper  for  Figure-Weaving    212 

26.  Diagram  to  show  the  Structure  of  Velvet    226 

27.  Section  of  Wire  used  in  weaving  Velvet    227 

28.  Diagram  descriptive  of  Gauze  Weaving    .    230 


A2 


1168 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 

HISTORICAL  ACCOUNT  OF  THE    RISE,    PROGRESS,  AND  PRESENT 
STATE  OF  THE  CULTURE  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

CHAPTER  I. 

HISTORY  OF   SILK,  TO  THE    PERIOD  WHEN    SILKWORMS   WERE  FIRST 
INTRODUCED  INTO  EUROPE. 

Time  of  its  earliest  Use  uncertain. — First  produced  and  adopted  in  the 
East. — China  the  Country  of  the  Silkworm.— The  Seres  of  the  An- 
cients, the  Chinese  of  the  Moderns. — Silk  manufactured  at  an  early- 
Period  in  the  Island  of  Cos. — Curious  Process. — Silk  among  the 
Persian  Spoils  acquired  by  Alexander  the  Great. — Aristotle's  De- 
scription of  the  Bombyx. — Absurd  Notions  of  different  Writers. — 
Silk  highly  prized  in  Rome. — Marcus  Antoninus  sends  Ambassadors 
to  China. — Persian  Monopoly. — Attempts  of  Justinian  to  destroy 
this. — His  Failure. — Introduction  of  the  Silkworm  into  Constanti- 
nople.— Imperial  Manufacture. — Silkworms  successfully  reared  in 
other  Parts  of  Greece. — Surprise  of  the  Sogdian  Ambassador. — De- 
struction of  Mulberry  trees  in  China   Page  13 

CHAP.  II. 

HISTORY  OF  SILK  CONTINUED:   FROM  THE  PERIOD  WHEN  SILKWORMS 
WERE  FIRST  INTRODUCED  INTO  EUROPE. 

Diffusion  of  the  Silk  Manufacture. — Successful  Establishment  in  Sicily. 
— Gradual  Introduction  into  other  Parts  of  Europe. — Marco  Polo. — 
His  Account  of  the  Prosperity  of  China. — Enormous  Quantity  of 
Silk  produced  there. — Production  and  Manufacture  in  Italy. — In 
Spain. — In  France. — Commerce  of  Antwerp. — Acceptable  Gift  to 
Queen  Elizabeth. — Manufacture  of  Silk  in  England. — Invention  of 
the  Stocking  Frame. — Tardiness  of  its  Adoption  25 

CHAP.  HI. 

HISTORY  OF  SILK  CONTINUED. — ATTEMPTS  TO  NATURALIZE  THE  SILK- 
WORM IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES. 

Extension  of  the  Culture  in  France  by  Henry  IV. — Efforts  of  James  I. 
to  promote  the  same  Object  in  England. — His  Failure. — Partial  and 
temporary  Success  in  American  Colonies. — Renewal  of  the  Attempt 
in  England. — Signal  Success  in  India. — Exertions  of  the  Russian 
Government — Silk  produced  in  Bavaria. — In  Prussia. — In  the  Mau- 


viii 


CONTENTS. 


ritius. — Notice  of  Attempt  in  Sweden. — Formation  of  a  Silk  Com- 
pany in  England. — Endeavor  to  produce  Silk  in  Ireland. — This  At- 
tempt abandoned. — Hope  of  Success  in  Malta. — Recent  Attempt  in 
St.  Helena   34 

CHAP.  TV. 

TRADE  OF  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES  IN  SILK. 

China. — France. — Italy. — Sicily. — Turkey. — Switzerland.  —  Prussia. — 
Russia   46 


CHAP.  V. 

PROGRESS  MADE  IN   ENGLAND  IN  THE   MANUFACTURE  OF  AND  TRADE 
IN  SILK. 

Earliest  Records  of  the  Introduction  of  small  Wares. — Of  broad  Silks. 
— Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. — Royal  Lustring  Company. — 
Treaty  of  Utrecht. — Commercial  Treaty  with  France. — Introduction 
of  Throwing-machinery  at  Derby  from  Piedmont. — Distress  of 
Weavers. — Their  tumultuary  Proceedings. — Prohibitory  Laws. — 
Spitalfields  Act. — Bengal  Silk. — Reduction  of  Duties. — Removal  of 
Restrictions  on  foreign  Importations. — Repeal  of  Spitalfields'  Acts. — 
Great  Extension  of  Silk  Manufacture. — Improvements. — Compara- 
tive Amount  of  Trade. — Smuggling. — Cost  of  manufacturing  in 
France  and  England. — Duties  and  Drawbacks  55 


PART  II. 

ON  THE  CULTURE  OF  SILK. 

CHAPTER  I 
ON  THE  CULTURE  OF  THE  MULBERRY  TREE. 

Different  Species  of  the  Mulberry  tree. — Comparative  Qualities  as 
Food  for  Silkworms. — Soil  and  Situation  most  favorable  for  its 
Growth. — Manner  of  raising  it. — From  Seed. — From  Cuttings. — In- 
grafting.— Number  of  Broods  of  Silkworms  annually  reared  in  dif- 
ferent Countries. — Nutritive  Qualities  of  the  Mulberry  leaf —Pre- 
servation of  Leaves. — Quantity  of  Leaves  that  may  be  annually 
taken  from  one  Tree. — The  Mulberry  leaf  sacred  to  the  Silk- 
worm 86 


CHAP.  II. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  SILKWORM. 

Various  Changes  of  the  Worm. — Its  small  Desire  of  Locomotion. — 
Manner  of  casting  its  Exuviae. — Sometimes  cannot  be  fully  accom- 
plished.— Consequent  Death  of  the  Insect. — Progress  of  its  Existence. 
— Material  of  which  its  Silk  is  formed. — Mode  of  its  Secretion. — 
Manner  of  Spinning. — Floss  silk. — The  Cocoon. — Its  Imperviousness 
to  Moisture. — Transformation  of  Worm  into  a  Chrysalis. — Periods  in 
which  its  various  progressions  are  effected  in  different  Climates. — 


CONTENTS. 


ix 


Effects  of  increased  Temperature. — Modes  of  artificial  Heating. — 
Coming  forth  of  the  Moth. — Manner  of  its  Extrication. — Increase  in 
Weight  and  Bulk  of  the  Silkworm. — Number  of  Eggs  produced. — 
Length,  &c.  at  different  Ages. — Silkworms  injuriously  affected  by 
Change  of  Climate. — Varieties  of  Silkworms. — Small  Worms. — 
Large  Species. — Produce  yielded  by  these   94 

CHAP.  III. 

MODE  OF  REARING  SILKWORMS  IN  CHINA. 

Silkworms  sometimes  reared  on  Trees. — Produce  inferior  to  that  spun 
in  Houses. — Mode  of  delaying  the  hatching  of  Eggs. — Method  of 
hatching. — Situation  of  Rearing-rooms. — Number  of  Meals. — Ne- 
cessity for  preventing  Damp. — For  preserving  Cleanliness. — Space 
allotted  to  Worms. — Preparations  for  Spinning. — Collection  of  Co- 
coons.— Destruction  of  Chrysalides. — Buildings  employed  for  rearing 
Silkworms  in  India   108 

CHAP.  IV. 

MODE  OF  REARING  SILKWORMS  IN  EUROPE. 

Great  Degree  of  Carefulness  required. — Absurdities  formerly  believed 
concerning  Silkworms. — Choice  of  Eggs. — Modes  of  hatching. — 
Use  of  Stove-rooms. — Their  Temperature. — Conveying  of  Worms 
to  Rearing-house. — Necessity  for  classing  Worms  according  to  their 
Ages. — Rev.  Mr.  Swayne's  Apparatus. — Space  allowed  to  Worms. — 
Mode  of  feeding. — Quantity  of  Leaves  consumed. — Arbors  for 
spinning. — Necessity  for  Attention  to  minute  Points  in  Management. 
— Regulation  of  Temperature. — Silkworms. — Will  not  spin  in  cold 
Atmosphere. — Ventilation. — Effect  of  Noise. — Electric  Influence. — 
Conductors   112 

CHAP.  V. 

GATHERING  AND  SORTING  COCOONS. 

Method  of  gathering. — Sorting. — Selecting  for  Seed. — Proportion  set 
apart  for  breeding. — Methods  of  destroying  Vitality  of  Chrysalides. — 
By  the  Solar  Rays. — In  Ovens. — By  Steam  Heat. — Preservation  of 
Cocoons. — Separation  of  damaged. — Good  Cocoons. — Pointed  Co- 
coons. — Cocalons . —  Dupions.  —  Soufflons.  —  Perforated  Cocoons. — • 
Choquettes. — Calcined  Cocoons. — Their  relative  Value. — Proportion 
of  pure  Silk  in  Cocoons. — Proportional  Weight  of  Eggs  and  Cocoons ; 
and  of  Mulberry  leaves. — Quantity  of  reeled  Silk  from  each  Cocoon. 
— Weight  and  Size. — Labor  required. — Deductions   124 

CHAP.  VI. 

DISEASES  OF  SILKWORMS. 

Generally  result  from  bad  Treatment. — Silkworms  frequently  reared 
in  Cottages  of  Peasants. — Count  Dandoio. — His  great  Improvements. 
— Dandolieres. — MephiticAir. — Moisture. — Experiments. — Jaundice. 
— Remedy. — Chlorine  Gas. — Chloride  of  Lime. — Fumigation. — Light 
not  injurious. — Description  of  Apartments  allotted  to  Silkworms  in 
Cottages. — 111  Effects  which  arise  to  their  Attendants   132 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  VII. 

ATTEMPTS  TO   SUBSTITUTE   OTHER   FOOD   FOR   MULBERRY   LEAVES  IN 
REARING  SILKWORMS. 

Doctor  Bellardi's  Experiment. — Lettuce-leaves. — Comparative  Produce 
of  Worms  fed  with  these  and  with  Mulberry  leaves. — Miss  Rhodes's 
Experiments. — Lettuce-leaves  successfully  used  in  a  Hot-house. — 
Mrs.  Williams's  Experiments. — Natural  Antipathy  of  Silkworms. — 
Leaves  of  Scorzonera. — Recent  Attempt  to  rear  Silkworms  in  Eng- 
land.— Abandoned  for  want  of  sufficient  and  appropriate  Food.  . .  137 


CHAP.  VIII. 

ATTEMPTS  TO  PRODUCE  SILK  FROM  DIFFERENT  ANIMATE  CREATURES. 

The  Spider. — Discovery  by  Mons.  Bon. — Manner  of  Spiders  producing 
their  Web. — Power  of  producing  this  of  various  degrees  of  Tenu- 
ity.— Great  number  of  Fibres  composing  one  Filament. — Different 
Kinds  of  Threads. — Spider  Bags. — Silk  made  from  these  by  Mons. 
Bon. — Manner  of  its  Preparation. — Great  comparative  Advantages 
adduced  by  Mons.  Bon. — His  Spider  Establishment. — Investigations 
by  Reaumur. — His  Objections. — Small  Produce  of  Silk  from  Spiders. 
— The  Pinna. — Description.— Delicacy  of  its  Threads. — Reaumur's 
Observations. — Spinning  Organ  of  the  Pinna. — Manner  of  forming 
its  Thread. — How  different  from  that  of  Land  Insects. — Power  of 
continually  producing  new  Threads. — "  The  Pinna  and  its  Cancer 
Friend." — Nature  of  their  Alliance. — Manner  of  taking  the  Pinna. 
— Its  Threads  known  to  the  Ancients. — Peculiar  Qualities  of  this 
Material  141 


PART  III. 

ON  THE  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 


CHAPTER  I. 

REELING. 

Arrangement  of  Filature. — Separation  of  different  kinds  of  Cocoons. 
— Description  of  Reel. — Manner  of  Reeling. — Construction  and 
Proportions  of  Reel  regulated  by  Law  in  Piedmont  — Precautions. 
— Size  of  Threads. — Regulation  of  Temperature. — Waste  Silk. — 
Quantity  reeled  in  a  given  Time. — Mode  of  ascertaining  Fineness 
of  Thread. — Spun  Silk. — Fleuret. — French  inferior  to  Italians  in  the 
Art  of  Reeling. — Regulations  and  Restrictions  in  Piedmont. — Their 
Oppressiveness  and  Impolicy  154 

CHAP.  II. 

THROWING. 

Art  brought  from  Italy.— Improvements  since  made. — Singles. — Tram. 
— Organzine.— Boiling  to  discharge  Gum.— -Italian  thrown  Silk.— 


CONTENTS. 


xi 


Reasons  for  its  superior  Quality. — High  protecting  Duty  on  Importa- 
tion.— Reduction  thereof. — Improved  Quality  of  English  Thrown 
Silk. — Great  Extension  of  the  Business. — Improvements  in  Throw- 
ing Machinery,  not  adopted  abroad. — Low  Wages  the  Occasion  of 
this. — Expense  of  Organzining.— Waste  in  the  Process  165 


CHAP.  Jit 

PLAIN  WEAVING. 

Antiquity  of  the  Art. — Involved  in  Obscurity. — Little  Improvement  in 
Weaving  Apparatus. — Indian  Manner  of  Weaving. — Simple  Loom. 
— Mode  of  its  Action. — Warping  Machine. — Mounting  the  Loom. — 
Shuttle.  —  Methods  of  Weaving.  —  Riband  Weaving.  —  Engine- 
loom  178 


CHAP.  IV. 

FIGURE  WEAVING 

Sumptuary  Laws. — Antiquity  of  ornamental  Weaving.  —  Stripes. — 
Checks. — Changes  of  Colors. — Twills. — Draw-loom. — Draw-boy. — 
Jacquard  Machine. — Principle  and  Mode  of  its  Action. — Card-slips. 
— Advantages  of  the  Machine. — Jennings's  Improvement. — Obsta- 
cles to  its  original  Introduction  in  Lyons. — Superiority  of  French 
Patterns  192 


CHAP.  V. 

MECHANICAL  OR  POWER  WEAVING. 

Great  Advantages  of  Machinery  in  abridging  Labor. — First  Proposal 
for  a  Power-loom. — Dr.  Cartwright's  Invention. — Causes  of  its  little 
Success. — Parliamentary  Reward. — Austin's  Power-loom. — Mode  of 
its  Action. — Reasons  for  preferring  Hand-weaving  for  Silken 
Fabrics. — Hand  Power-looms. — Mr.  Sadler's  Invention. — Double  and 
Quadruple  Looms,  Proportion  wherein  they  are  said  to  abridge 
Labor   215 


CHAP.  VI. 

VELVET  WEAVING. 

Its  first  Introduction  into  England. — Chinese  Velvets. — Structure  of 
Velvet. — Process  of  weaving  it. — Improvements  therein. — Figured 
Velvet. — German  Velvet  225 


CHAP.  VII. 

GAUZE  WEAVING. 

Its  Origin. — Structure. — Peculiarity  of  Arrangements  in  Weaving  it. — 
Mode  of  putting  these  in  Action. — Difficulty  of  the  Process. — Supe- 
riority of  the  French  in  Gauze- weaving,  accounted  for  229 


Xll 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  VIII. 

BROCADE,  DAMASK,  ETC. 

Gold  and  Silver  Brocade. — Metallic  Threads. — Gilt  and  silvered  Paper- 
— Damasquitte. — Machinery  employed  in  its  Production. — Method 
of  Restoring  tarnished  Brocade.  —  Silk  Brocade. —  Damask.— Its 
Manufacture  brought  to  England. — Mode  of  Manufacture. — Cafard 
Damask. — Persian. — Sarsnet. — Gros-de-Naples. — Ducape.  —  Satin. — 
Crape.  —  Levantine.  —  Gros-des-Indes.  —  Watering.  — Embossing. — 
Mixed  Goods. — Bombasins. — Poplins. — Lustres. — Shawls  231 


PART  IV. 

CHEMICAL,  MEDICAL,  AND  ELECTRIC  PROPERTIES  OF  SILK. 

Coloring  Matter  of  the  Cocoon. — Manner  of  bleaching  Silk. — "  The 
bitter  Principle." — Various  Chemical  Experiments. — Guttae  Angli- 
canse. — Silk  a  Protection  against  Malaria. — Formerly  used  as  a  Med- 
icine.— Its  Electric  Properties. — How  first  discovered. — Various  Ex- 
periments detailed   243 


Notes. 
Index. 


255 


267 


TREATISE 

ON 

THE  ORIGIN,  PROGRESSIVE  IMPROVEMENT,  AND 
PRESENT  STATE 

OF  THE 

MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 


PART  I. 

HISTORICAL  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  RISE,  PROGRESS,  AND  PRESENT 
STATE  OF  THE  CULTURE  AND  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

CHAPTER  L 

HISTORY  OF  SILK,  TO  THE  PERIOD  WHEN  SILKWORMS  WERE 
FIRST  INTRODUCED  INTO  EUROPE. 

Time  of  its  earliest  use  uncertain.— First  produced  and  adopted  in  the  East. 
— China  the  Country  of  the  Silkworm. — The  Seres  of  the  Ancients  the 
Chinese  of  the  Moderns. — Silk  manufactured  at  an  early  period  in  the 
Island  of  Cos. — Curious  process. — Silk  among  the  Persian  spoils  acquired 

.  by  Alexander  the  Great. — Aristotle's  Description  of  the  Bombyx. — Absurd 
notions  of  different  writers. — Silk  highly  prized  at  Rome. — Marcus  Anto- 
ninus sends  Ambassadors  to  China. — Persian  Monopoly. — Attempts  of 
Justinian  to  destroy  this. — His  Failure. — Introduction  of  the  Silkworm 
into  Constantinople. — Imperial  Manufacture. — Silkworms  successfully 
reared  in  other  parts  of  Greece.— Surprise  of  the  Sogdian  Ambassador. — 
Destruction  of  Mulberry  Trees  in  China. 

Silk,  and  the  many  textures  wrought  from  this  beautiful 
material,  are  so  universally  and  familiarly  known,  that  the 
peculiar  manner  of  its  production  cannot  fail  to  be  a  subject 
of  interesting  investigation. 

It  is  a  wonderful  fact,  that  the  thick  velvet  and  the  stiff 
brocade,  the  thin  gauze  and  the  delicate  blonde,  should  all 
be  formed  from  the  product  of  the  labors  of  a  little  worm ;  and 
we  are  irresistibly  prompted  to  inquire  how  such  results  are 
accomplished. 

To  trace  from  their  origin  the  progressive  steps  by  which 
man  has  adapted  to  his  use  the  various  productions  of  nature, 
is  rarely  possible.  All  that  can  be  collected  concerning  sev- 
eral of  the  important  arts  of  life  is,  that  they  have  flowed  to 
us  from  the  east,  and  that  many  among  them  have  issued 
from  China  in  a  state  of  comparative  perfectness.  This  is 
particularly  the  case  with  the  subject  of  our  present  inquiry. 


i4 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I. 


It  is  impossible  to  fix  the  period  when  man  first  divested 
the  chrysalis  of  its  dwelling,  and  discovered  that  the  little 
yellow  ball,  which  adhered  to  the  leaf  of  the  mulberry  tree, 
could  be  evolved  into  a  slender  filament,  and  thence  be  made 
to  form  tissues  of  endless  beauty  and  variety.  From  a  cer- 
tain point,  we  can  trace  the  progressive  improvements  of  the 
silk  manufacture,  but  seek  in  vain  for  authentic  information 
respecting  its  earliest  origin ;  and,  while  compelled  to  assign 
the  merit  of  this  to  the  Chinese,  we  cannot  account  for  the 
degree  of  excellence  which  the  art  had  attained  previous  to 
the  time  when  even  the  existence  of  the  material  became 
known  in  the  West.  This  proficiency  alone,  however,  af- 
fords sufficient  proof  that  the  manufacture  was  of  no  recent 
origin.  The  manual  arts  arrive  at  perfection  by  very  slow 
degrees.  Improvements  resulting  from  invention,  as  distin- 
guished from  imitation,  are  seldom  rapid ;  and  if  this  position 
hold  good  as  a  general  principle,  it  is  more  especially  applica- 
ble to  labors  unassisted  by  any  save  the  rudest  machinery, 
and  practised  by  a  people  who,  so  far  at  least  as  we  are  in- 
formed, could  derive  little  aid  from  science. 

Notwithstanding  these  disadvantages,  the  Chinese,  in  the 
remotest  ages,  produced  sugar,  silk,  and  many  other  manu- 
factures, with  a  degree  of  excellence  which  even  now  is 
scarcely  surpassed.  Yet  while  other  nations  have  been  rapid- 
ly advancing  in  knowledge,  they  have  remained  stationary. 
Debarred  from  intercourse  with  their  kind,  less  by  the  ob- 
structions which* they  raised  to  the  ingress  of  strangers,  than 
by  the  vanity  which  led  them  to  make  so  false  an  estimate  of 
other  nations,  this  extraordinary  people  drew  upon  the  re- 
sources of  their  own  intelligence  for  discoveries  the  most  im- 
portant, and  pursued  them  to  an  useful  end  with  industry  the 
most  persevering.  Their  industry  remains,  but  the  intelli- 
gence to  which  it  owed  its  principal  value  appears  to  have 
been  arrested.*  In  the  faculty  of  imitating,  they  are  still 
considered  unrivalled ;  but  this  is  a  quality  which  would  seem 
to  place  them  in  the  train  of  other  nations,  rather  than  as 
taking  the  lead  in  discovery  and  civilization. 

The  first  introduction  of  Indian  luxuries  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  ancients,  was  accompanied  by  the  most  fabulous  ac- 
counts of  the  regions  of  their  production,  and  gave  occasion 
for  many  absurd  speculations.  This  state  of  ignorance  was, 
no  doubt,  in  a  great  part  owing  to  the  peculiar  policy  of  the 
Chinese,  who,  habitually  and  exceedingly  jealous  of  all  other 


*  Note  A. 


CHAP.  I. 


HISTORY  OF  SILK* 


15 


people,  enveloped  the  practice  of  their  various  arts  in  so 
much  mystery,  that  stratagem  was  often  baffled  in  the  en- 
deavor to  unravel  it,  leaving  us  indebted  for  the  disclosure  to 
fortuitous  circumstances. 

In  the  attempt  here  made  to  trace,  from  the  dark  ages  of 
antiquity  to  the  present  time,  the  progress  of  a  trade  and 
manufacture  so  widely  diffused  over  the  civilized  world  as 
those  of  silk,  chronological  order  is  followed  as  closely  as  the 
nature  of  the  hquiry  will  permit. 

Reasons  already  stated  lead  us  to  consider  it  probable  that 
the  inhabitants  of  China  enjoyed  the  use  of  silk  trom  a  period 
greatly  anterior  to  its  introduction  elsewhere.  By  the  writ- 
ten records  of  that  country,  we  are  told  that  the  art  of  con- 
verting to  their  own  advantage  the  labors  of  the  silkworm 
was  known  and  practised  among  them  2700  years  before  the 
commencement  of  the  Christian  era.  Their  most  ancient 
authorities  represent  the  empresses  of  China  as  surrounded 
by  their  women,  engaged  in  the  occupations  of  hatching  and 
rearing  silkworms,  and  in  weaving  tissues  from  their  produce. 
To  the  empress  See-ling-shee,  the  consort  of  Hoang-tee,  is 
ascribed  the  honor  of  having  first  observed  the  silk  produced 
by  the  worms,  of  unravelling  their  cocoons,  and  of  working 
the  fine  filament  into  a  web  of  cloth. 

Silk  is  described  by  the  ancients  as  coming  first  from 
Serica  or  Sereinda,  that  part  of  India  which  lies  beyond  the 
Ganges.  Seres  is  the  designation  given  by  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  to  the  people  who  inhabited  those  remote  regions, 
and  Sereinda  is,  apparently,  a  compound  of  Seres  and  Indi. 
The  latter  is  a  general  term,  applied  by  the  ancients  to  all 
distant  nations,  with  as  little  precision  as  India  is  now  used 
by  modern  Europeans. 

It  is  now  so  generally  admitted  that  the  Seres  of  the  an- 
cients are  the  Chinese  of  the  moderns,  that  it  is  unnecessary 
to  enter  into  any  discussion  in  proof  of  this  belief.  Se  is  the 
name  for  silk  in  the  Chinese  language ;  this,  by  a  faulty  pro- 
nunciation, not  uncommon  in  their  frontier  provinces,  acquired 
the  final  r,  thus  changing  the  word  into  Ser,  the  very  name 
adopted  by  the  Greeks.  We  can,  therefore,  hardly  doubt 
that  these  obtained  the  name,  as  well  as  the  material  itself, 
first  from  China. 

The  labors  of  the  silkworm,  whose  produce  holds  so  im- 
portant a  place  among  the  luxuries  of  modern  life,  were,  until 
the  tiire  of  the  emperor  Justinian,  wholly  confined  to  China, 
Long  before  that  period,  however,  not  only  were  manufac- 
tures of  silk  introduced  among  the  nations  which  then  en- 


3  6 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  U 


gaged  in  commercial  pursuits,  but  the  raw  material  gave 
employment  to  extensive  manufactories  in  Persia,  Tyre>  Be- 
rytus,  and  elsewhere. 

The  celebrated  historian  Ammianus  Marcellinus  describes 
the  Seres  as  a  sedate  and  gentle  people,  who  avoid  all  conten- 
tions with  neighboring  nations,  and  are  therefore  exempt  from 
the  miseries  and  alarms  of  war.  Being  without  the  necessity 
for  using  offensive  weapons,  they  are  even  unacquainted  with 
them.  Blessed  with  a  fertile  soil,  and  a  delicious  and  salubri- 
ous climate,  they  are  represented  as  passing  their  happy  days 
in  the  most  perfect  tranquillity  and  delightful  leisure,  amid 
shady  groves  fanned  by  gentle  breezes,  and  producing  fleeces 
of  downy  wool,  which,  after  being  sprinkled  with  water,  is 
combed  off  in  the  finest  threads  and  woven  into  sericum* 

Marcellinus  proceeds  to  describe  the  Seres  as  being  content 
with  their  own  felicitous  condition,  and  so  reserved  in  their 
intercourse  with  the  rest  of  mankind,  that  when  foreigners 
venture  within  their  boundaries  for  wrought  and  unwrought 
silk,  and  other  valuable  articles,  they  consider  the  price  offered 
in  silence,  and  transact  their  business  without  exchanging  a 
word ;  a  mode  of  traffic  which  is  still  practised  in  some  eastern 
countries. 

In  the  island  of  Kos,  situated  in  the  Archipelago,  silk  was 
manufactured  at  a  very  early  period.  Aristotle  relates,  that  horn- 
bykia,  or  the  stuff  produced  from  the  bombyx  (the  silkworm), 
was  respun  and  rewove  by  the  industrious  women  of  this 
island.  Pamphila  is  celebrated  as  the  inventress  of  this  pro- 
cess. She  unwove  the  precious  material  to  recompose  it  in 
her  loom  into  fabrics  of  a  more  extended  texture ;  thus  con- 
verting the  substantial  silks  of  the  Seres  into  thin  transparent 
gauze,  obtaining  in  measure  what  was  lost  in  substance. 
Attempts  have  been  made  to  rob  the  inventress  of  all  the 
merit  belonging  to  this  process,  by  identifying  the  bombykia 
with  the  raw  material,  which,  it  is  said,  Pamphila  and  her 
nymphs  procured  from  Seres,  and  spun  and  wove  into  sericupsr 
or  silk.  But  the  fact  of  the  reweaving  rests  upon  too  good 
authority  to  be  doubted.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  Roman  ladies 
subsequently  adopted  this  Pamphilian  process. 

Pliny  asserts  that  the  bombyx  was  a  native  of  Kos ;  but  it 
is  not  probable  that  the  women  of  that  island  would,  in  such 
case,  have  recourse  to  the  laborious  operation  of  converting 
foreign  finished  goods  into  threads  for  their  own  weaving.  It 
is,  therefore,  only  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  whatever  manu- 


*  Note  B. 


CHAl*.  t. 


ItlSTOKY/  OF1  SILK. 


17 


facture  was  carried  on  from  the  raw  material,  was,  like  that 
of  Tyre  or  Berytus,  composed  of  unwrought  silk  imported 
from  the  East.  It  is  mentioned  both  by  Theophanes  and  Zona- 
ras,  the  Byzantine  historians,  that  before  silkworms  were 
brought  to  Constantinople  in  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century, 
no  person  in  that  capital  knew  that  silk  was  produced  by  a 
worm ;  a  tolerably  strong  evidence  that  none  were  reared  so 
near  to  Constantinople  as  Kos.* 

Among  all  the  rich  materials  gathered  from  various  coun- 
tries for  the  embellishment  of  the  celebrated  temple  of  Solo- 
mon, no  mention  is  made  of  silk.  The  costly  cloths  used  at 
its  dedication,  and  appropriated  to  the  service  of  the  priest- 
hood, are  described  as  being  of  the  finest  linen.  In  Jerome's 
translation  of  the  Bible,  we  find  sericum  enumerated  among 
other  articles  of  commerce  sent  to  Tyre  from  Syria,  588 
years  before  Christ.  The  supply  must,  however,  have  been 
exceedingly  scanty,  since,  on  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple, 
which  was  completed  sixty-four  years  after  the  last-mentioned 
period,  the  records  of  the  Jews  make  no  mention  of  the  sub- 
stitution of  silken  for  linen  fabrics,  as  might  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected among  a  people  who  introduced  so  much  magnificence 
into  their  religious  rites. 

The  victorious  army  of  Alexander  the  Great  brought  home, 
among  other  eastern  luxuries,  wrought  silks  from  Persia. 
Tiiis  ambitious  conqueror,  while  eagerly  intent  upon  adding 
to  his  dominions,  was  desirous  also  of  extending  the  bounda- 
ries of  knowledge ;  not  forgetting,  amid  his  insatiable  lust  of 
empire,  the  more  rational  counsels  of  his  learned  preceptor, 
Aristotle,  that  he  should  explore  the  arcana  of  nature.  To  fa- 
cilitate this  object,  Alexander  took  with  him,  in  his  Asiatic  ex- 
pedition, 1000  men,  whose  sole  employment  it  was  to  collect 
animals,  either  by  fishing,  hunting,  or  hawking :  these  were, 
lk>m  time  to  time,  carefully  transmitted  for  the  inspection  of 
the  philosopher ;  and  for  his  further  encouragement  in  the 
prosecution  of  his  inquiries,  Alexander  presented  him  with 
the  sum  of  800  talents.  So  well  did  Aristotle  avail  himself  of 
these  opportunities  afforded  by  his  royal  pupil,  that  although 
his  writings  on  natural  history  are  the  most  ancient  extant, 
they  are  yet  found  to  be  more  correct  than  those  of  many  who 
wrote  at  later  periods  on  that  branch  of  science. 

Aristotle  certainly  gives  the  best  account  of  the  silkworm 
that  is  to  be  found  in  any  ancient  author,  describing  it  as  a 
horned  worm,  which  passes  through  several  transformations, 


*  Note  C. 
B2 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PA.RT  I. 


and  produces  bombykia.  It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  al- 
though minute  in  his  description  of  the  worm,  he  yet  feils  to 
indicate  the  country  of  its  origin. 

Pliny,  whose  writings  afford  evidence  of  so  much  erudi- 
tion, has  given  an  account  of  the  silkworm  which  greatly 
varies  from  that  of  the  Grecian  philosopher.  Assyria  is  as- 
signed by  the  Roman  naturalist  as  the  native  country  of  the 
bombyx,  and  he  transplants  Pamphila  and  her  manufacture  to 
Ceos,  an  island  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  iEgean  Sea,  near 
to  the  coast  of  Attica.  He  tells  us  that  the  stuff  which  the 
women  of  Rome  unravelled  and  wove  anew,  was  made  from  a 
woolly  substance,  combed  by  the  Seres  from  the  leaves  of 
trees,  and  that  draperies  formed  of  this  material  were  import- 
ed from  the  country  of  the  Seres. 

During  a  period  of  nine  centuries  following  the  time;  of 
Aristotle,  various  writers*  asserted  that  sericum  was  made, 
either  from  fleeces  growing  upon  trees, 

1  Velleraque  ut  foliis  depeclant  tenuia  Seres, — "t 

from  the  bark  of  trees,  or  from  flowers.  With  that  confus  ion 
of  ideas  which  was  unavoidable  in  attempting  to  describe 
what  they  did  not  understand,  these  writers  mingled  together 
what  they  had  heard  or  read  of  silkworms  feeding  on  mulberry 
leaves,  with  cotton  growing  upon  shrubs,  with  flax,  and  with 
coir,  or  the  inner  rind  of  the  cocoa-nut.  Some  few  authors 
came  nearer  to  the  truth,  and  stated,  that  the  silken  filament 
was  obtained  from  a  species  of  the  spider  or  beetle.  So  slow- 
ly was  the  truth  on  this  point  disseminated,  even  among* 
learned  men,  that  Isidorus,  bishop  of  Hispalis  in  Spain,  though 
he  lived  a  century  after  the  introduction  into  Europe  of  silk-« 
worms  and  the  manufacture  of  silk,  was  wholly  ignorant  upon 
the  subject,  and  servilely  copied  Pliny  ;  so  prone  is  the  scholar 
to  obtain  his  information  from  books,  rather  than  to  seek  for 
accurate  ideas  in  the  study  of  things. 

Silk  was  very  little  known  in  Europe  before  the  reign  of 
Augustus,  and,  during  a  long  succeeding  period,  it  remained 
extremely  costly ;  only  a  small  quantity  reaching  the  imperial 
city,  by  a  circuitous  and  expensive  land  and  water  carriage. 

In  the  reign  of  Tiberius  the  use  of  oriental  sericum  was 
appropriated  in  Rome  wholly  to  women  of  rank.  Men  were 
restrained  by  a  law  of  the  senate  from  clothing  themselves 
with  such  effeminate  apparel.  This  prohibition  did  not  indeed 
prevent  their  using,  during  the  heat  of  summer,  the  lighter 


*  Note  D. 


t  Virgil. 


CHAP.  I. 


HISTORY  OF  SILK. 


19 


and  inferior  fabrics  of  Cos,  notwithstanding  the  disapproval 
of  the  graver  people,  whose  frowns  proved  of  little  effect  in 
counteracting-  the  incitements  of  vanity.  The  extreme  slight- 
ness  and  transparency  of  these  textures,  which  were  also 
adopted  by  such  females  as  could  not  procure  the  more  costly 
stuffs,  furnished  occasion  for  the  censure  and  ridicule  of  the 
moralists  and  satirists  of  more  than  a  century.* 

Further  to  gratify  the  tastes  of  those  whose  circumstances 
did  not  allow  them  to  adopt  the  use  of  so  admired  a  material 
of  dress,  a  fabric  was  invented,  in  which  the  costly  filament 
was  interwoven  with  a  cheaper  material.  This  manufacture 
was  sub-sericum,  and  was  worn  indiscriminately  by  males 
and  females. 

The  accumulating  wealth  and  increasing  luxury  of  the  Ro- 
man people  caused  the  demand  for  silk  manufactures  to  in- 
crease faster  than  their  supply,  and  their  price  became  exor- 
bitantly high.  In  the  second  century,  the  emperor  Marcus 
Antoninus  sent,  on  this  account,  ambassadors  to  China,  in  or- 
der to  open  a  more  direct  commercial  intercourse  with  that 
country.f  These  ambassadors  proceeded  to  their  destination 
by  the  way  of  Egypt  and  India.  The  Annals  of  the  Chinese 
historian  Ven-hien-tung  record  this  embassy,  which  did  not 
prove  more  successful  than  embassies  to  China  in  other  days 
have  been.  The  Persians  were,  for  centuries,  the  channel  of 
communication  betwTeen  Rome  and  China,  and  their  caravans, 
laden  with  merchandise,  traversed  the  whole  extent  of  Asia, 
from  the  Chinese  ocean  to  the  sea-coast  of  Syria. 

The  price  of  silk  in  Rome,  during  the  third  century,  must 
fhave  been  very  high,  when,  amid  the  grosser  enormities  and 
£nore  wanton  prodigalities  of  Heliogabalus,  it  is  yet  deemed 
-worthy  of  mention  and  accusation,  that  he  habited  himself  in 
-a  garment  made  wholly  of  that  material,  and  which  was 
whence  called  a  holosericum.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  same 
-century  we  find  the  more  prudent  emperor  Aurelian  refusing 
to  the  entreaties  of  his  empress  a  similar  luxury,  alleging 
that  such  could  only  be  obtained  in  exchange  for  its  weight 
in  gold|. 

The  luxurious  habits  of  the  Romans  accompanied  them  to 
Byzantium,  and  offered  a  rich  harvest  to  the  Persians,  which 
they  were  long  enabled  to  reap,  owing  to  their  monopoly  of 
the  trade  with  India  and  China.  This  desire  of  obtaining  a 
continued  supply  of  luxuries,  to  which  the  former  had  been 
long  accustomed,  has  been  much  censured,  as  evincing  de- 


*  Note  E, 


t  Note  F. 


$  Note  G. 


20 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I« 


generacy  from  the  sterner  virtues  of  their  ancestors.  It  would 
be  difficult,  however,  to  show  that  the  Romans  of  the  fifth 
century,  employing  their  superfluous  wealth  in  giving  a  profit- 
able direction  to  native  industry,  while  encouraging  that  com- 
mercial enterprise  to  which  they  were  indebted  for  imported 
gratifications,  were  inferior  to  their  rude  forefathers,  who 
followed  no  trade  save  that  of  the  sword,  and  whose  com- 
merce with  other  countries  consisted  in  war,  and  rapine,  and 
desolation. 

Persia,  in  the  prosecution  of  this  intermedial  traffic,  fur- 
nished silks  to  the  inhabitants  of  Constantinople  at  prices  out 
of  all  proportion  with  their  cost  in  the  country  of  production. 
Their  trade  needed  the  infusion  of  some  of  the  modern  spirit 
of  competition,  so  useful  to  the  great  class  of  consumers ;  or 
it  probably  was  trammelled  by  the  regulations  and  exactions 
of  an  arbitrary  government. 

The  Romans  being  at  war  with  the  Persians  in  the  reign 
of  Justinian,  that  monarch  endeavored  to  obtain  supplies  of 
Indian  produce  for  his  subjects  through  other  channels.  For 
this  purpose  he  sent  embassies  to  Elasbaan,  king  of  Axuma, 
and  Esimiphasus,  who  governed  the  Homerites,  in  Arabia 
Felix,  then  tributary  to  Axuma.  Stimulated  by  the  desire  of 
gain,  these  princes  fell  readily  into  the  views  of  Justinian ; 
but,  through  their  deficiency  of  skill  and  experience,  were 
little  able  to  fulfil  their  commercial  engagements ;  and  the 
price  of  silk  rose  in  Constantinople  to  a  height  which  obliged 
even  the  most  luxurious  in  a  great  degree  to  forego  its  use. 
This  state  of  privation  must  not  be  altogether  ascribed  to  the 
external  relations  of  the  imperial  government.  The  Phoeni- 
cian manufacturers  were  still  willing  to  supply  their  silken 
fabrics ;  but  Justinian,  with  short-sighted  rapacity,  injured  the 
trade,  by  burthening  the  importation  with  heavy  duties,  and 
still  more  by  regulating  the  price  at  which  merchants  were 
allowed  to  dispose  of  their  merchandise.  The  arbitrary  or- 
ders of  the  emperor  limited  this  price  to  a  rate  which,  when 
converted  into  English  money,  was  equal  to  4Z.  15s.  9c?.,  es- 
timated in  gold,  for  the  pound  avoirdupois.  This  price  was 
really  greater  than  a  similar  amount  at  the  present  day,  the 
value  in  exchange  of  the  precious  metals  having  been  much 
reduced  by  the  greater  richness  of  the  mines  since  discovered, 
and  by  the  superior  methods  used  for  working  them.  This 
interference  of  Justinian  was  enforced  with  the  greatest 
strictness ;  the  merchants  engaged  in  the  traffic  were  ruined ; 
the  scarcity  of  silk  at  Constantinople  was  converted  into  ab- 
jsolute  privation;  and  the  revenue  of  the  emperor,  the  in> 


CHAP.  I. 


HISTORY  OF  SILK. 


21 


provement  of  which  was  doubtless  the  great  motive  for  inter- 
ference, suffered  in  consequence. 

The  commerce  of  the  Romans  was  in  this  state,  as  re- 
garded the  article  of  silk,  when  they  obtained  relief  in  a 
very  extraordinary  and  unexpected  manner.  Two  Persian 
monks,  having  been  employed  as  missionaries  in  some  of  the 
Christian  churches,  which,  according  to  Cosmas,  were  already 
established  in  different  parts  of  India,  had  penetrated  into  the 
country  of  the  Seres,  or  China.  "  There,  amidst  their  pious 
occupations,,  they  viewed  with  a  curious  eye  the  common 
dress  of  the  Chinese,  the  manufactures  of  silk,  and  the 
myriads  of  silkworms,  whose  education,  either  on  trees  or  in 
houses,  had  once  been  considered  the  labor  of  queens.  They 
soon  discovered  that  it  was  impracticable  to  transplant  the 
short-lived  insect,  but  that  in  the  eggs  a  numerous  progeny 
might  be  preserved,  and  multiplied  in  a  distant  climate."* 
They  observed  with  interest  the  labors  of  the  little  creature, 
and  strove  to  make  themselves  acquainted  with  all  the  manual 
arts  employed  in  working  up  its  productions  into  so  great  a 
variety  of  fabrics.  On  their  return  to  the  West,  instead  of 
communicating  their  knowledge  thus  acquired  to  their  own 
countrymen,  they  proceeded  on  to  Constantinople.  The  pros- 
pect of  gain,  or,  as  some  have  asserted,  an  indignant  zeal, 
excited  by  seeing  a  lucrative  branch  of  commerce  engrossed 
by  unbelieving  nations,  prompted  them  to  impart  to  the  em- 
peror the  secret,  hitherto  so  well  preserved  by  the  Chinese, 
that  silk  was  produced  by  a  species  of  worm;  and  to  acquaint 
him  with  their  belief  that  the  eggs  of  these  might  be  suc- 
cessfully transported,  and  the  insects  propagated  in  his  do- 
minions. They  likewise  explained  to  Justinian  the  modes  of 
preparing  and  manufacturing  the  slender  filament,  mysteries 
hitherto  altogether  unknown  or  but  imperfectly  understood  in 
Europe.  By  the  promise  of  a  great  reward,  the  monks  were 
induced  to  return  to  China,  and  there,  with  much  difficulty, 
eluding  the  vigilant  jealousy  of  the  Chinese,  they  succeeded 
in  obtaining  a  quantity  of  silkworms'  eggs.  These  they  con- 
cealed in  a  hollow  cane,  and  at  length,  in  the  year  552,  con- 
veyed them  in  safety  to  Constantinople.  The  eggs  were 
hatched  in  the  proper  season  by  the  warmth  of  manure,  and 
the  worms  were  fed  with  the  leaves  of  the  wild  mulberry 
tree.    These  worms,  in  due  time,  spun  their  silk,  and  propa- 


*  Robertson's  Disquisitions  on  the  Commerce  of  India.  D'Herbelot, 
Biblioth.  Orient,  art.  Harir.  Procopius,  Hist.  Arcan.  Gibbon's  Decline 
and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  chap.  xl. 


22  SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  I. 


gated  under  the  careful  tendance  of  the  monks ;  who  also  in- 
structed the  Romans  in  the  whole  process  of  manufacturing 
their  production.* 

The  insects  thus  pruduced  were  the  progenitors  of  all  the 
generations  of  silkworms  which  have  since  been  reared  in 
Europe  and  the  western  parts  of  Asia, — of  the  countless 
myriads  whose  constant  and  successive  labors  are  engaged  in 
supplying  a  great  and  still  increasing  demand.  A  caneful  of 
the  eggs  of  an  oriental  insect  thus  became  the  means  of 
establishing  a  manufacture  which  fashion  and  luxury  had 
already  rendered  important,  and  of  saving  vast  sums  annually 
to  European  nations,  which  in  this  respect  had  been  so  long 
dependent  on  and  obliged  to  submit  to  the  exactions  of  their 
oriental  neighbors. 

The  desire  of  augmenting  his  revenue,  that  powerful  mo- 
tive with  rulers  both  ancient  and  modern,  induced  the  emperor 
Justinian  to  take  the  infant  manufacture  into  his  own  hands : 
it  was  conducted  under  the  management  of  his  treasurer ; 
and  the  weavers,  apparently  those  brought  from  Tyre  and 
Berytus,  as  well  as  others  instructed  by  the  monks,  were 
compelled  to  work  in  the  imperial  manufactory. 

The  altered  circumstances  wherein  the  manufacture  was 
thus  placed,  wrought  a  corresponding  alteration  in  the  mind 
of  the  emperor  as  to  the  price  which  it  was  fitting  should  be 
paid  by  his  subjects  for  the  indulgence  of  their  vanity.  Silks 
of  the  imperial  manufacture  were  sold  at  prices  prodigiously 
beyond  those  which  he  had  formerly  prohibited  as  excessive. 
An  ounce  weight  of  the  fabric  thus  manufactured  could  not 
be  obtained  under  the  price  of  six  pieces  of  gold.  The  article 
was  thus  rendered  eightfold  more  expensive  than  it  had  been 
under  the  restriction  before  the  silkworm  was  introduced. 
This  was  the  price  demanded  for  common  colors ;  but  when 
tinged  with  the  royal  hue,  the  fabric  immediately  assumed  a 
quadruple  value. 

Under  these  circumstances  of  imperial  rapacity,  the  intro- 
duction of  silkworms  could  not  have  much  benefited  the  Ro- 
man people.  But  the  exclusive  rearing  of  silkworms,  and  the 
manufacture  of  their  produce,  did  not  long  remain  a  merely 
royal  prerogative.  The  discovery  that  the  worm  could  con- 
duct its  labors  with  as  much  advantage  in  Europe  as  in  the 
climes  where  it  first  became  the  object  of  human  attention, 


*  Procopius,  De  Bello  Gothico,  lib.  iv.  c.  17.  Theophan.  Byzant.  apud 
Photium.  Theophylact,  lib.  viii,  et  apud  Photium.  Zonaras,  vol.  iii,  p, 
SO,  edit.  1557, 


CHAP.  I. 


HISTORY  OF  SILK. 


23 


was  quickly  made  subservient  to  practical  utility.  The  mul- 
berry tree  was  planted  with  eager  haste,  and  vast  numbers  of 
these  valuable  insect  laborers  were  soon  nourished  by  their 
natural  food,  successfully  reared  in  different  parts  of  Greece, 
and  particularly  in  the  Peloponnesus. 

The  demand  of  silk  from  the  East  diminished ;  the  subjects 
of  the  Greek  emperors  were  no  longer  obliged  to  have  re- 
course to  Persia  for  a  supply  of  this  article ;  and  thence  a 
considerable  change  took  place  in  the  nature  of  the  commer- 
cial intercourse  with  India. 

The  establishment  of  the  Turkish  power  in  Asia,  about  the 
middle  of  the  sixth  century,  together  with  subsequent  wars, 
had  greatly  interrupted  the  caravan  trade  between  China  and 
Persia.  On  the  return  of  peace,  the  Sogdians,  an  Asiatic 
people,  who  had  the  greatest  interest  in  the  revival  of  the 
trade,  persuaded  the  Turkish  sovereign,  to  whom  they  were 
become  subjects,  to  send  an  embassy  to  Chosroes,  king  of  Per- 
sia, to  open  a  negotiation  for  this  purpose.  Maniak,  a  Sog- 
dian  prince,  who  was  ambassador,  was  instructed  to  request 
that  the  Sogdians  might  be  allowed  to  supply  the  Persians 
with  silk.  The  ambassador  presented  himself  before  the  Per- 
sian monarch  in  the  double  character  of  merchant  and  envoy, 
carrying  with  him  many  bales  of  silken  merchandise,  for 
which  he  hoped  to  find  purchasers  among  the  Persians.  But 
Chosroes,  who  thought  the  conveyance  by  sea  to  the  Persian 
Gulf  more  advantageous  to  his  subjects  than  this  proposed 
traffic,  was  not  disposed  to  lend  a  favorable  ear  to  the  lega- 
tion, and  rather  uncourteously  showed  his  contempt  of  the 
Sogdian  traders.  He  bought  up  the  whole  of  the  silk  which 
the  ambassador  had  carried  with  him,  and  immediately  de- 
stroyed it  by  fire,  thus  giving  the  most  convincing  proof  of 
the  little  value  which  it  held  in  his  estimation. 

After  this  the  Persians  and  Chinese  united  against  the 
Turks,  who,  to  strengthen  themselves,  sought  an  alliance 
with  Justin,  the  emperor  of  the  Romans.  Maniak  was  again 
appointed  ambassador,  and  sent  to  negotiate  the  terms  of  the 
alliance ;  but  disappointment,  though  from  a  dissimilar  cause, 
attended  this  his  second  embassy.  The  sight  of  silkworms, 
and  the  establishments  for  manufacturing  their  produce,  in 
Constantinople,  were  as  unwelcome  as  unexpected;  but  he 
concealed  his  mortification,  and,  with  perhaps  an  overstrained 
civility,  acknowledged,  that  the  Romans  were  already  become 
as  expert  as  the  Chinese  in  the  management  of  the  worms 
and  the  manufacture  of  their  silk.* 


*  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  chap.  xlii. 


24 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


i*ART  It 


The  Venetians,  soon  after  this  time,  opened  commercial  re- 
lations with  the  Greek  empire,  aud  continued  for  many  cen- 
turies the  channel  for  supplying  the  western  parts  of  Europe 
with  silks.  The  estimation  wherein  this  manufacture  was 
held  continued  sufficiently  high  for  it  to  be  considered  worthy 
of  being  made  a  regal  gift.  It  appears  that  in  the  year  790" 
the  emperor  Charlemagne  sent  two  silken  vests  to  Offa  king 
of  Mercia. 

It  was  fortunate  for  the  European  admirers  of  silken  gar- 
ments that  they  were  thus  rendered  independent  of  oriental 
supplies ;  for,  in  the  year  877,  Baichu,  a  rebel,  made  himself 
master  of  most  part  of  the  Chinese  empire.  When  Canfu, 
the  port  of  resort  for  foreign  merchants,  fell  into  his  hands, 
he  wantonly  massacred  all  the  inhabitants,  among  whom  it  is 
said  there  were  120,000  foreign  merchants,  consisting  of  Ma- 
hometans, Jews,  Christians,  and  Persees.  The  number  must, 
doubtless,  have  been  greatly  exaggerated  by  the  historian  on 
this  occasion ;  but  the  population  of  Canfu  must  have  been 
very  great,  or  no  writer  would  have  ventured  upon  recording 
so  vast  a  number  of  sufferers. 

This  savage  monster,  Baichu,  not  content  with  warring  on 
his  own  species,  extended  his  cruelty  to  those  insects  which 
were  here  so  peculiarly  the  care  of  man ;  devoting  to  indis- 
criminate destruction  all  those  trees  on  which  the  silkworm 
was  nourished,  and  consequently  entirely  destroying  the  silk 
trade  during  his  reign.  To  complete  the  ruin  of  the  country, 
he  practised  such  extortions  upon  foreign  merchants,  that 
during  his  sway  they  altogether  gave  up  trading  with  China. 

In  the  year  938,  according  to  Massoudi,  Canfu  had  recov- 
ered from  the  calamities  thus  inflicted,  and  again  became  a 
place  of  resort  to  the  Arabian  merchants  as  well  as  for  trading 
vessels  from  India. 

Many  kinds  of  silk  manufactures,  such  as  velvet,  (Janiask,. 
and  satin,  remained  unknown  for  a  long  period  after  this, 
during  which  time  silk  fabrics  continued  to  be  wrought  in  in- 
creasing abundance  in  the  Roman  territories,  which,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  supplied  most  parts  of  Europe,  until  the 
middle  of  the  twelfth  century.  Although  at  this  period  (1146) 
the  Roman  empire  was  fast  declining  in  the  scale  of  nations, 
and  its  possessions  were  reduced  within  nearly  the  same 
limits  as  bounded  modern  European  Turkey  before  its  late 
dismemberment ;  still,  even  in  their  degenerate  state,  its  once 
powerful  people  continued  to  excel  other  nations  of  Europe 
m  the  quality  and  variety  of  their  manufactures,  and  in  the 


CHAP.  II. 


HISTORY  OF  SILK. 


25 


ingenuity  of  their  artisans.  They  alone  possessed  the  valuable 
breed  of  silkworms  which,  600  years  before,  had  been  trans- 
ferred from  the  remotest  extremity  of  the  East;  and  none 
others,  up  to  this  time,  had  manufactured  its  costly  spoils. 


CHAPTER  II. 

HISTORY  OF  SILK  CONTINUED,  FROM  THE  PERIOD  WHEN  SILK- 
WORMS WERE  FIRST  INTRODUCED  INTO  EUROPE. 

Diffusion  of  the  Silk  Manufacture. — Successful  Establishment  in  Sicily. — 
Gradual  Introduction  into  other  parts  of  Europe— Marco  Polo. — His  Ac- 
count of  the  prosperity  of  China. — Enormous  quantity  of  Silk  produced 
there. — Production  and  Manufacture  in  Italy. — In  Spain. — In  France. — 
Commerce  of  Antwerp. — Acceptable  gift  to  Queen  Elizabeth. — Manu- 
facture of  Silk  in  England. — Invention  of  the  Stocking  Frame. — Tardi- 
ness of  its  adoption. 

It  has  been  shown  in  the  preceding  chapter  in  what  man- 
ner the  culture  of  silk  was  introduced,  and  its  manufacture 
laid  open  to  the  ingenuity  of  the  western  hemisphere.  The 
extension  of  this  branch  of  human  ingenuity  was  at  first  ex- 
ceedingly slow,  and  we  have  seen,  that  for  a  period  of  600 
years,  it  was  wholly  confined  to  the  territories  of  the  Greek 
empire.  Its  first  diffusion  followed  upon  the  invasion  of  these 
territories  by  Roger  L,  king  of  Sicily,  who,  not  content  with 
carrying  off  the  wealth  of  Athens,  Thebes,  and  Corinth,  as 
some  fruits  of  his  successful  enterprise,  also  led  into  captivity 
a  considerable  number  of  silk- weavers,  whom  he  compulsorily 
settled  in  Palermo,  obliging  them  to  impart  to  his  subjects  the 
knowledge  of  their  art. 

Without  stepping  aside  to  question  the  right  of  the  royal 
marauder  thus  tyrannously  to  sever  these  unoffending  artisans 
from  the  ties  of  country  and  kindred,  we  may  yet  be  allowed 
to  express  some  satisfaction  at  the  consequences  of  his 
cruelty.  It  is  well  for  the  interests  of  humanity  that  bless- 
ings, although  unsought  and  remote,  do  sometimes  follow  in 
the  train  of  conquest ;  that  wars  are  not  always  limited  in 
their  results  to  the  exaltation  of  one  individual,  the  downfall 
of  another,  the  slaughter  of  thousands,  and  the  misery  of 
millions,  but  sometimes  prove  the  harbingers  of  peaceful  arts, 
heralds  of  science,  and  even  deliverers  from  the  yoke  of 
slavery  or  superstition. 

In  twenty  years  from  this  forcible  establishment  of  the 
manufacture,  the  silks  of  Sicily  are  described  as  having  at- 
tained a  decided  excellence ;  as  being  of  diversified  pattern* 


26 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I. 


and  colors ;  some  fancifully  interwoven  with  gold ;  some  richly 
adorned  with  figures ;  and  others  tastefully  embellished  with 
pearls,*  The  industry  and  ingenuity  thus  called  forth,  could 
not  fail  to  exercise  a  beneficial  influence  over  the  character 
and  condition  of  the  Sicilians. 

By  degrees  the  knowledge  of  the  several  processes  required 
in  the  art  spread  over  the  greater  part  of  Italy,  and  was  car- 
ried into  Spain ;  but  it  was  not  until  the  reign  of  Francis  L 
that  the  silk  manufacture  took  root  in  France.  A  still  longer 
interval  occurred  before  its  adoption  in  England  ;  and  its  in- 
troduction, even  then,  was  very  slow.  There  is  no  doubt, 
however,  that  the  use  of  silk  was  extensively  adopted  in  this 
country  at  an  early  period  after  the  conquest ;  for  in  the  year 
1251,  at  the  celebration  of  the  marriage  between  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Henry  III.,  and  Alexander  III.,  of  Scotland,  a 
most  extravagant  display  of  magnificence  was  made,  and,  on 
the  nuptial  day,  1000  English  knights  appeared  in  cointises 
of  silk.  These,  however,  were  not  retained  during  the  entire 
festivities ;  but  on  the  next  day  were  thrown  aside,  to  be  re- 
placed by  robes  equally  gorgeous  and  splendid. 

At  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  celebrated 
traveller  Marco  Polo  gave  to  the  world  a  narrative  of  his 
wanderings,  wherein  is  contained  a  particular  and  interesting 
account  of  Cambalu,  the  royal  city  of  China.  It  would  be 
irrelevant  to  the  subject  of  this  volume  to  repeat  many  details 
of  its  opulence ;  but  this  will  be  sufficiently  evidenced  by 
showing  the  abundance  of  silk  in  which  it  traded.  "No 
fewer,"  he  informs  us,  "  than  1000  carriages  and  pack-horses, 
loaded  with  raw  silk,  make  their  daily  entry  into  the  city; 
and  silks  of  various  textures  are  manufactured  to  an  immense 
extent."  He  describes  the  whole  country  of  China  to  be  fl^ed 
with  great,  rich,  and  crowded  cities,  thronged  with  manufac- 
turers of  silk  and  other  valuable  merchandise. 

Several  provinces  of  China  are  so  fertile  with  mulberry 
trees,  and  their  climate  is  so  congenial  to  the  nature  of  silk- 
worms, that  the  quantity  of  silk  produced  is  very  great.  Du 
Halde  says,  "  Every  body  knows  the  abundance  and  beauty 
of  the  silk  Which  is  made  throughout  China."  The  ancients 
showed  their  knowledge  of  this  abundance,  when  they  called 
it  the  Kingdom  of  Silk ;  and  the  moderns  know  it  from  ex- 
perience— for  many  nations  both  of  Asia  and  of  Europe  draw 
from  it  the  superabundance  of  its  produce ;  and  every  year 
ships  and  caravans  leave  the  cotintry,  laden  with  vast  quanti- 


*  Note  H. 


CHAP.  II. 


HISTORY  OF  SILK. 


27 


ties  of  both  the  wrought  and  unwrought  material.  Yet 
although  thus  lavishly  sent  forth,  still,  such  is  the  amount 
produced,  that  silken  fabrics,  either  wrought  of  the  simple 
material,  or  mixed  with  gold  or  silver,  are  consumed  through- 
out the  empire  to  an  almost  incredible  amount.  If  any  other 
proof  were  wanting  of  this  inexhaustible  abundance,  it  might 
be  found  in  the  365  barks,  which  the  two  provinces  of  Nan- 
kin and  Che-kiang  alone  send  every  year  to  the  court,  laden 
not  only  with  pieces  of  wrought  silk,  satins,  and  velvets,  of 
various  kinds  and  colors,  but  even  with  rich  and  costly  gar- 
ments.  To  this  evidence  may  also  be  added,  the  many  hun- 
dred thousands  of  pounds'  weight  of  wrought  and  unwrought 
£ilk  which  the  provinces  pay  each  year  as  tribute  to  the  em- 
peror.* 

It  has  always  appeared  to  be  the  policy  of  the  rulers  of  this 
empire  to  restrain  rather  than  to  encourage  a  taste  for  com- 
mercial enterprise  among  its  people.  Abounding  in  so  many 
productions  coveted  by  other  nations,  it  is  remarkable  that 
they  have  at  all  times  merely  tolerated  foreign  commerce, 
esteeming  the  great  influx  of  money  which  it  pours  into  their 
country  as  of  no  advantage.  Possessing,  under  their  varied 
range  of  climate,  not  only  all  the  necessaries  and  comforts, 
but  even  the  luxuries  of  life,  and  believing  that  they  are  mas* 
ters  of  every  kind  of  knowledge  that  is  useful  to  or  attainable 
by  man,  they  feel  themselves  wholly  independent  of  foreign 
nations,  and  affect  to  look  with  contempt  upon  such  less  fortu- 
nate beings  as  are  compelled  to  leave  their  own  countries  in 
search  of  Chinese  superfluities.-)- 

Although  the  various  periods  when  establishments  for  the 
production  and  manufacture  of  silk  were  first  introduced  into 
the  different  countries  of  Europe  may  be  ascertained  with  a 
tolerable  degree  of  exactness,  yet  some  discrepancies  occur 
in  the  many  authors  who  have  noticed  the  subject.  The 
authority,  therefore,  of  those  among  them  whose  assertions 
possess  the  least  degree  of  probability,  must  be  rejected. 
There  is  much  discordance  in  the  various  accounts  of  the 
introduction  of  silkworms  and  the  manufacture  of  their  pro? 
,duce  in  Italy. 

In  the  year  1203,  when  the  Venetians  became  masters  of 
those  provinces  of  the  Greek  empire  which  were  the  princi- 
pal seats  of  the  silk  trade,  they  would  hardly  omit  or  delay  to 
transport  the  manufacture  and  the  worms  into  their  own  equally 
favorable  climate ;  and  it  is  also  reasonable  to  imagine,  that 


f  PJouyelle  Relation  <le  la  Chipe, 


i  Nate  I? 


28  SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  I. 

the  Genoese,  when  they  obtained  possession  of  Galata,  would 
hasten  to  transfer  such  lucrative  branches  of  industry  to  their 
own  country.  It  may,  perhaps,  be  subject  of  conjecture  or 
controversy,  in  what  precise  manner,  or  at  what  period,  the 
introduction  took  place  into  Italy ;  but  it  is  certain  that  in  the 
)^ear  1306  the  rearing  of  silkworms  had  become  of  so  much 
importance  in  Modena  as  to  yield  a  revenue  to  the  state,  and 
that  this  city  had  arrived  at  so  much  excellence  in  the  produc- 
tion, that  its  silk  was  then  esteemed  the  best  in  Lombardy. 
In  the  year  1327,  it  was  either  considered  advisable  to  aug- 
ment the  revenue  derived  from  the  silk  trade  in  Modena,  or 
otherwise  this  branch  of  industry  was  found  to  be  on  the  de- 
cline. At  that  time  the  magistrates  passed  a  law,  obliging 
every  proprietor  of  an  inclosure  (without,  however,  specify- 
ing the  extent  of  ground  which  rendered  compliance  with 
the  law  obligatory)  to  plant  at  least  three  mulberry  trees ;  and 
further  ordering,  that  all  cocoons,  or  silkworm  pods,  produced, 
should  be  publicly  sold  in  the  market,  the  buyer  and  seller 
paying  each  a  tax  to  the  revenue. 

Till  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Bologna  was 
the  only  city  of  Italy  which  possessed  proper  throwing  mills,  or 
the  machinery  requisite  for  twisting  and  preparing  silken  fibres 
for  the  weaver.  Up  to  that  period  the  Modenese  were  obliged 
to  send  their  silk  to  be  thrown  at  Bologna.  At  length  the 
genius  of  invention  or  imitation  roused  them  into  sufficient 
energy  to  acquire  the  art  of  constructing  and  working  ade- 
quate machinery  for  their  own  purpose,  and  thence  this 
preliminary  branch  of  the  manufacture  spread  to  other  cities 
of  Italy. 

In  the  year  1300,  many  thousand  people  were  employed 
in  the  silk  manufacture  at  Florence,  where  it  was  then  fol- 
lowed in  a  much  greater  degree  than  in  any  other  of  the 
states  of  Italy. 

Not  only  was  the  manufacture  adopted  likewise  in  Venice, 
but  it  was  held  in  such  high  esteem,  that  the  business  of  a 
silk  factory  was  considered  a  noble  employment,  and  might 
be  practised  without  degradation  by  the  higher  classes.  This 
was  equally  the  case  with  two  other  trades, — those  of  the 
glass-maker  and  druggist,  which  brought  no  contamination 
upon  nobility  in  Venice.  In  a  country  where  wealth  was  con-  * 
centrated  in  the  hands  of  the  powerful,  it  was  no  doubt  highly 
judicious  thus  to  encourage  its  employment  for  objects  of  pub- 
lic advantage.  A  feeling,  more  or  less  powerful,  has  always 
existed  in  the  minds  of  the  high-born,  against  the  employ- 
ment of  their  time  and  wealth  to  purposes  of  commerce  or 


CHAP.  II.  HISTORY  OF  SILK. 


29 


manufactures.  All  trades,  save  only  that  of  war,  seem  to  have 
been  held  by  them  as  in  some  sort  degrading,  and  but  little 
comporting  with  the  dignity  of  aristocratic  blood. 

The  total  expulsion  of  the  Christians  from  Syria  occasioned 
Egypt  to  become  once  more  an  entrepot  for  the  greater  part 
of  the  trade  between  the  eastern  and  western  regions  of  the 
world.  The  Egyptian  government  made  the  monopoly  thus 
enjoyed  by  its  subjects  a  fruitful  source  also  of  revenue,  and 
imposed  very  heavy  duties  upon  the  transit  of  merchandise. 
Marino  Sanuto,  a  noble  Venetian,  indignant  at  the  impositions 
to  which  the  European  trader  was  subjected,  and  burning 
moreover  with  true  catholic  zeal,  addressed  a  work  to  the 
pope  under  the  quaint  title  of  "Secrets  of* the  Faithful,"  in 
in  which  he  proposed  to  suppress  the  Egyptian  trade  by  force 
of  arms.  This  production  does  not,  however,  appear  to  have 
been  owing  to  the  sudden  ebullition  of  an  evanescent  interest, 
hastily  sent  forth  for  the  immediate  relief  of  his  oppressed 
Fellow-Christians :  it  was  begun,  as  he  informs  us  in  his  pre- 
face, in  the  year  1306,  and  was  presented  to  his  holiness  in 
1321;  during  all  which  period  of  his  literary  labor,  the  ob- 
jects of  his  zeal  were  left  exposed  to  all  the  grievous  exac- 
tions of  the  Egyptian  government.  Viewing  with  envy  and 
displeasure  the  vast  amount  of  profits  which  the  sultan  and 
the  Saracens  derived  from  the  trades  in  silk  and  sugar,  he  de* 
tails  a  plan  whereby  this  source  of  prosperity  might  at  once 
be  turned  from  the  race  of  unbelievers.  Observing  that  silk 
was  already  produced  in  considerable  quantities  in  Apulia, 
Romania,  Sicily,  Crete,  and  Cyprus,  and  that  its  production 
might  be  still  further  extended  in  those  places,  he  solemnly 
adjures  every  good  Christian  to  refuse  the  purchase  of  any 
merely  suspected  to  have  come  from  the  dominions  of  the 
.sultan.  All  direct  intercourse  with  the  unbelievers  is  of 
course  to  be  forbidden ;  and  this  prohibition  to  be  strictly  and 
universally  enforced  by  stationary  armed  galleys  for  the  in- 
tercepting of  illicit  traders.  In  conclusion,  this  crusader 
against  stuffs  and  condiments,  with  all  the  intolerant  bigotry, 
unrelieved  and  unredeemed  by  the  chivalrous  daring,  of  God- 
frey de  Bouillon  or  our  own  lion-hearted  Richard,  calls  upon 
the  captain  of  the  holy  church  to  wage  perpetual  and  equal 
war  against  the  Saracens  and  those  perfidious  Christians  who 
infringe  his  commands  by  trading  with  the  unbelievers  ! 

It  is  recorded  that  Henry  V.  of  England,  on  his  invasion 
of  France,  which  led  to  the  celebrated  victory  of  Agmcourt, 
occupied,  by  himself  and  his  suite,  two  vessels,  which  were 
fitted  up  with  all  the  magnificence  of  regal  splendor.  The 


so 


SILK  MANUFACTURE- 


PART  I. 


one  which  had  the  honor  of  conveying  his  august  person  was 
called  the  King's  Chamber,  and  was  further  distinguished  by 
a  sail  of  purple  silk,  on  which  were  richly  embroidered  the 
arms  of  France  and  England.  Henry's  mind  was  not  of  an 
order  to  give  way  to  the  incitements  of  such  luxury ;  and  he 
must  have  been  far  too  much  engrossed  by  the  mighty  pro- 
ject in  which  he  was  embarked,  for  the  indulgence  of  such 
a  weakness.  He  could  only,  in  adopting  a  show  of  mag- 
nificence so  unusual,  have  been  actuated  by  the  desire  of 
dazzling  the  minds  of  his  unenlightened  followers,  and  of 
exciting  them  to  repose  additional  confidence  in  so  potent  a 
leader 

Spain,  as  well  as  Italy,  had  at  this  time  made  considerable 
progress  in  the  production  and  manufacture  of  silk.  When 
Ferdinand  V.  conquered  Granada,  and  put  an  end  to  the 
Moorish  power  in  Spam,  he  found  there  numerous  establish- 
ments for  the  production  of  silken  fabrics,  which  were  rivalled 
by  others  carried  on  in  Murcia  and  Cordova. 

It  is  said  that  the  first  introduction  of  silk  into  France  was 
accomplished  by  Louis  XL,  who  obtained  workmen  from  Ge- 
noa, Venice,  and  Florence,  and  established  them  at  Tours,  in 
the  year  1480,  under  very  extensive  privileges.  It  does  not, 
however,  appear  that  much  progress  was  made  in  the  manu- 
facture until  the  reign  of  Francis  L  During  the  time  that  the 
French  possessed  the  duchy  of  Milan  (1521),  artisans  were 
thence  procured,  who  introduced  the  manufacture  into  Lyons 
under  the  fostering  protection  of  the  monarch.  The  people 
of  France  made  a  rapid  progress  in  this  pursuit ;  and,  in  ad- 
dition to  those  of  Lyons,  many  manufactories  were  speedily 
established  in  others  of  the  southern  provinces,  supplying  suf- 
ficient for  their  own  consumption,  and  soon  afterwards  even  a 
superabundance  for  competition  in  foreign  markets,  furnish- 
ing many  parts  of  Europe  with  the  fruits  of  their  newly  cul- 
tivated art.  In  particular,  France  for  many  years  derived 
considerable  wealth  from  prosecuting  this  branch  of  trade 
with  England. 

According  to  Thuanus,  the  first  introduction  of  the  silk- 
worm into  France  was  during  the  reign  of  Francis  I.  This 
author  relates  that  flourishing  establishments  for  rearing  silk- 
worms were  then  to  be  found  in  Provence,  at  Avignon,  and 
Lyons.  Much  attention  was  bestowed  upon  this  subject  at 
Fontainebleau,  but  the  climate  did  not  prove  congenial  to  the 
habits  of  the  insect. 

In  the  year  1554,  a  sumptuary  law  was  made  in  England, 
during  the  reign  of  the  arbitrary  and  tyrannical  Mary,  whose 


CHAP-  II. 


HISTORY  OF  SILK. 


31 


declared  object  was  the  encouragement  of  home  manufac- 
tures, and  to  restrain  the  growing  vanity  of  the  lower  classed 
of  the  people.  This  statute,  which  affords  evidence  of  the  in- 
creasing intelligence  and  growing  comforts  of  the  middle 
class  of  English  citizens,  enacts,  "  That  whoever  shall  wear 
silk  in  or  upon  his  or  her  hat,  bonnet,  or  girdle,  scabbard,  hose,, 
shoes,  or  spur  leather,  shall  be  imprisoned  during  three  months, 
and  forfeit  ten  pounds ;"  excepting  from  this  restraint  magis- 
trates of  corporations,  and  all  other  persons  of  still  higher 
condition.  In  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  James  L  this  ab- 
surd statute  was  repealed. 

Guicciardini,  in  his  description  of  the  Netherlands,  gives  a 
long  account  of  the  prosperity  of  the  city  of  Antwerp  in  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  which  shows  the  great  trade 
then  existing  in  silk,  and  points  out  the  countries  which  ex- 
ported or  imported  that  article.  The  merchants  of  Antwerp 
exchanged  at  Bologna  their  own  serges  and  other  stuffs,  tapes- 
tries, linens,  merceries,  &c.  for  wrought  silks,  cloth  of  gold 
and  silver,  crapes,  &c.  To  Venice  they  sent  jewels  and  pearls, 
and  the  cloth  and  wool  of  England,  and  received  in  return  the 
finest  and  richest  wrought  silks,  &c.  Naples  took  from  them 
cloths  of  their  own  and  of  English  manufacture,  stuffs,  tapes- 
tries, &c,  and  returned  raw,  thrown,  and  wrought  silks,  &c. 
Sicily  obtained  from  them  serges,  cloths,  &c.  and  paid  for 
them  in  cotton,  silk,  &c.  The  consignments  of  Milan  were 
pepper,  sugar,  &c.  ;  the  returns,  wrought  silks.  To  Florence 
and  Genoa,  woollen  stuffs,  English  wool,  &£. :  the  imports 
from  the  first  of  these  places  were  very  fine  wrought  silk; 
and  from  Genoa,  other  wrought  silks,  satins,  and  velvet. 

It  would  naturally  be  imagined,  from  this  view  of  the  trade 
of  Antwerp,  that  its  citizens  were  extremely  partial  to  gar- 
ments of  silk,  and  that  these  formed  a  common  article  of  their 
dress ;  but  of  all  which  they  thus  received  in  such  profusion,  no 
part  was  appropriated  to  their  own  use.  "  Never  any  country,1' 
said  Sir  William  Temple,  "traded  so  much,  and  consumed  so 
little.  They  buy  infinitely,  but  it  is  to  sell  again.  They  are 
the  great  masters  of  Indian  spices  and  Persian  silks,  yet  wear 
plain  linen,  and  feed  upon  their  own  fish  and  roots ;  they  sell 
the  finest  of  their  own  cloth  to  France,  and  buy  coarse  cloth 
out  of  England  for  their  own  wear :  they  send  abroad  the  best 
of  their  own  butter,  and  buy  the  cheapest  out  of  Ireland  or 
the  north  of  England  for  their  own  use.  In  short,  they  furnish 
infinite  luxury  which  they  never  practise,  and  traffic  in  plea- 
sures they  never  taste." 

It  is  related  by  Howell,  in  his  "  History  of  the  World,'* 


32  SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  I. 

that  queen  Elizabeth,  in  the  third  year  of  her  reign  (1560,) 
was  gratified  by  being  presented  with  a  pair  of  knit  black 
eilk  stockings  by  Mrs.  Montague,  her  silk-woman,  at  which 
she  was  so  much  delighted  that  she  never  afterwards  conde- 
scended to  wear  those  of  cloth.  It  might  have  been  supposed 
that  Elizabeth's  inordinate  fondness  for  dress  would  have  in- 
duced her  to  give  every  encouragement  to  the  manufacture 
of  so  elegant  a  fabric  as  silk :  it  does  not,  however,  appear 
that  much  progress  was  made  in  it  during  her  reign,  Con* 
tent,  probably,  with  her  own  acquisition,  she  might  be  desir- 
ous that  the  more  becoming  silken  texture  should  remain  a. 
regal  privilege ;  and  while  she  displayed  her  own  ancles  in 
the  delicate  silken  knit,  was,  perhaps,  well  pleased  that  her 
maids  of  honor  should  conceal  theirs  under  the  clumsy  and 
inelegant  cloth  hose,  lest,  haply,  among  these  some  might 
have  been  found  rather  more  beautifully  formed  than  her  own. 

Henry  VIII.,  that  magnificent  and  expensive  prince,  could 
not  in  this  respect  indulge  his  vanity  as  successfully  as  his 
daughter,  and  was  obliged  to  wear  cloth  hose,  except  when, 
by  great  chance,  he  was  able  to  obtain  a  pair  of  silk  stock- 
ings for  gala  days  from  Spain.  Sir  Thomas  Gresham  pre- 
sented Edward  VI.  with  a  pair  of  long  Spanish  silk  stock- 
ings ;  and,  from  their  rarity,  this  offering  was  deemed  worthy 
of  much  notice. 

The  city  of  Antwerp,  having  been  taken  after  an  obstinate 
resistance,  in  the  year  1585,  by  the  duke  of  Parma,  then 
governor  of  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  it  was  consigned  during 
three  days  to  indiscriminate  plunder  and  destruction.  Its 
ruin  was  a  death-blow  to  the  commerce  of  the  Low  Coun- 
tries, and  the  noble  manufactures  of  Flanders  and  Brabant 
were  dispersed  into  various  countries.  About  a  third  part  of 
the  artisans  and  merchants  who  wrought  and  dealt  in  silk 
took  refuge  in  England,  where  they  finally  settled,  and 
taught  those  arts  by  which  they  had  long  prospered  in  their 
native  land. 

By  these  means  the  manufacture  was  very  materially  im- 
proved in  England,  and  became  one  of  national  importance, 
so  as  to  be  the  object  of  royal  proclamations  and  legislative 
enactments  for  its  regulation.  For  a  long  time,  however, 
foreign  silk  goods  continued  to  be  preferred  in  this  country ; 
and  in  the  year  1668  the  tide  of  fashion  set  entirely  in  favor 
Df  French  fabrics ;  so  that  it  became  a  complaint  that  "  the 
women's  hats  were  turned  into  hoods  made  of  French  silk, 
whereby  every  maid-servant  became  a  standing  revenue  to 
ttie  French  king  of  one  half  of  her  wages." 


CHAP.  II. 


HISTORY  OF  SILK. 


33 


Notwithstanding  this  predilection  for  foreign  goods,  which 
may  have  existed  independently  of  their  merits  when  com- 
pared with  English  fabrics,  that  which  was  foreign  being 
chosen  merely  because  it  was  foreign — a  sort  of  preference 
which  is  not,  perhaps,  without  a  parallel  in  even  this  more 
rational  age, — notwithstanding  this,  the  English  manufacture 
has  gone  on  steadily  advancing  in  quality  and  amount,  so  as 
to  afford  one  of  the  most  striking  instances  on  record,  in 
which  an  art,  borrowed  from  other  nations,  and  employed 
on  a  material  of  entirely  foreign  growth,  has  been  made  at 
least  to  equal,  if  it  does  not  surpass,  the  productions  of  those 
countries  from  which  it  was  derived. 

At  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  English,  who 
had  previously  been  content  to  adopt  the  inventions  and  the 
plans  of  others,  began  upon  that  course  of  mechanical  im- 
provement, which  has  since  been  prosecuted  to  such  import- 
ant results.  An  engine  for  knitting  or  weaving  stockings 
was  at  that  time  invented  by  the  Rev.  William  Lea,  of  St. 
John's  College,  Cambridge,  which  was  important,  not  only  as 
it  enabled  our  ancestors  to  discard  their  former  inelegant 
kose,  but  likewise  as  it  caused  the  English  manufactures  to 
excel  all  of  foreign  production,  and  to  be  sought  after  ac- 
cordingly. The  invention  of  this  stocking  frame  enabled  the 
manufacturer  to  export  vast  quantities  of  silk  hose  to  Italy. 
These  maintained  their  superiority  for  so  long  a  period,  that 
Keysler,  in  his  Travels  through  Europe,  as  late  as  the  year 
1730,  remarks,  that  "  at  Naples,  when  a  tradesman  would 
highly  recommend  his  silk  stockings,  he  protests  they  are 
right  English.1' 

The  success  attendant  upon  Mr.  Lea's  invention  was  not, 
however,  immediately  consequent  upon  its  introduction.  On 
the  contrary,  the  small  use  made  of  stockings  in  England  at 
that  time  caused  the  machine  to  be  long  neglected;  and  so 
small  was  the  encouragement  which  he  met  with  at  home, 
that  Mr.  Lea  was  led  to  comply  with  the  invitation  of  Henry 
IV.  of  France,  and,  accompanied  by  several  journeymen,  es- 
tablished his  looms  for  a  time  at  Rouen,  in  Normandy.  The 
subsequent  assassination  of  his  royal  patron,  and  the  conse- 
quent internal  troubles  of  France,  compelled  him,  however, 
to  abandon  this  establishment;  and  falling  into  a  state  of  des* 
titution,  he  soon  after  died  in  Paris. 


34 


SILK  MANUFACTURE.  FART  I? 


CHAP.  IIL 

HISTORY  OF  SILK  CONTINUED — ATTEMPTS  TO  NATURALIZE  THE 
SILKWORM  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES. 

Extension  of  the  Culture  jn  Prance  by  Henry  IV.— Efforts  of  James  I.  to 
promote  the  same  object  in  England.— His  Failure.— Partial  and  tempo- 
rary Success  in  American  Colonies.— Renewal  of  the  Attempt  in  England. 
•^Signal  success  in  India. — Exertions  of  the  Russian  Government. — Silk 
produced  in  Bavaria. — In  Prussia. — In  the  Mauritius. — Notice  of  an  At- 
tempt in  Sweden.— Formation  of  a  Silk  Company  in  England. — Endeavor 
to  produce  Silk  in  Ireland. — This  Attempt  abandoned.— Hopes  of  Success 
in  Malta.— Recent  Attempt  at  St.  Helena. 

Nearly  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  attention 
of  Henry  IV.  of  France  was  particularly  turned  towards  en- 
larging the  silk  manufactures  in  his  kingdom.  The  silkworm 
and  the  mulberry  tree  had  been  previously  propagated  in  the 
Lyonnois,  Dauphine,  Provence,  and  Languedop  ;  but  the  king 
now  naturalize^  the  insect  as  far  north  as  Orleans,  and  brought 
silk  to  be  a  very  general  manufacture  in  France. 

There  had  been  no  silk  manufactories  in  Paris  until  the 
Parisians  were  encouraged  by  him  to  form  establishments  for 
this  purpose.  The  letters-patent  which  the  king  granted  on 
this  occasion  are  remarkable,  as  they  conferred  on  success 
and  perseverance  in  this  pursuit  no  smaller  rewards  than 
titles  of  nobility.  These  were  bestowed  upon  the  first  manu- 
facturers, on  condition  that  they  should  support  the  manufac- 
ture for  twelve  years.  The  ambition  of  sundry  good  citizens 
seems  strongly  to  have  excited  them  to  weave,  in  this  novel 
manner,  the  silken  web  of  their  exaltation ;  and  the  manufac- 
ture speedily  flourished. 

Mezeray  says,  that  Henry  also  planted  mulberry  trees  near 
Paris,  and  attempted  to  breed  silkworms  at  the  Tuileriesj 
Fontainebleau,  and  the<  castle  of  Madrid. 

These  efforts  appeared  for  a  time  to  be  attended  with  sue? 
cess ;  but  later  experience  has  shown  that  the  silkworm  can- 
not be  profitably  propagated  in  any  place  north  of  the  river 
Loire.  The  climate  in  the  neighborhood  of  Paris  is  decidedly 
unfavorable  to  the  attempt.  The  labors  of  the  insect  have, 
for  a  long  period,  been  again  confined  to  those  departments 
of  the  south,  whence  Henry  sought  to  colonize  his  more  north- 
ern provinces. 

The  cultivation  of  the  mulberry  tree  in  France  has  been 
represented  as  occurring  so  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  fif- 
teenth century,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  VIII. ,  and  its  intra? 


CHAr.  III. 


HISTORY  OP  SILK. 


35 


duction  ascribed  to  some  of  the  nobles  who  accompanied  that 
monarch  in  his  Italian  campaign.  Other  authorities  as  confi- 
dently assert  that  Sicily  was  the  country  whence  the  mul- 
berry was  first  transplanted  into  France*  However  this  may 
have  been,  its  cultivation  was  at  first  confined  to  Provence^ 
and  was  not  even  there  attended  with  much  success  until  the' 
time  of  Henry  IV. 

In  his  endeavors  to  promote  in  every  possible  manner  the 
production  of  silk  in  his  dominions,  this  king  offered  great  en- 
couragement to  the  cultivators  of  mulberry  trees,  and  estab- 
lished nurseries  whence  young  trees  were  freely  given  to 
such  landed  proprietors  as  chose  to  apply  for  them. 

Great  anxiety  has,  at  various  times,  been  shown  by  the 
French  government  for  the  extension  of  this  culture ;  but  the 
greatest  wisdom  has  not  been  always  evinced  in  the  choice 
of  means  for  attaining  their  object.  Colbert,  minister  of 
Louis  XIV.,  in  his  impatience  to  increase  the  production  of 
silk,  did  not  content  himself  with  merely  giving  trees  from 
the  royal  nurseries,  but  also  caused  them  to  be  removed  and 
planted  at  the  government  expense.  This  over-degree  of 
liberality*  however,-  defeated  its  object.  The  trees  thus  easily 
acquired  Were  but  little  valued,  and  were  either  fatally  neg- 
lected or  wilfully  destroyed  by  the  peasantry.  The  error  of 
the  government  was  by  this  means  soon  made  apparent,  and 
&  plan  much  more  rational  and  efficacious  was  adopted.  A 
reward  of  three  livres  was  offered  to  the  cultivator  for  every 
tree  that  should  be  found  in  a  thriving  condition  three  years 
after  it  had  been  planted.  Thus  stimulated,  the  cultivation 
was  conducted  with  greater  carefulness,  and  Provence,  Lan* 
guedoc,  Dauphine,  Vivarais,  Lyonnois,  Gascony,  and  Saint- 
onge  became  speedily  covered  with  mulberry  trees,  although 
the  production  of  silk  was  confined  to  the  four  first-named  of 
these  provinces. 

The  degree  of  success  which  attended  the  efforts  of  the 
French  monarch  to  extend  in  his  kingdom  the  production  of 
silk,  excited  in  James  I.  of  England  an  active  zeal  for  its  in- 
troduction into  this  country.  This  object  appears  to  have 
been  a  favorite  with  him,  as  he  took  great  interest  in  stimu- 
lating his  subjects  to  reduce  it  to  practice.  "  Having  seen," 
says  king  James,  "  that  in  a  few  years'  space  our  brother  the 
French  king  hath,  since  his  coming  to  that  crown,  both  begun 
and  brought  to  perfection  the  making  of  silk  in  his  country, 
whereby  he  has  won  to  himself  honor,  and  to  his  subjects  a 
marvellous  increase  of  wealth."*— After  which  preamble, 


*  Harleian  Miscellany,  vol.  ii. 


36  SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  1. 

he  goes  on  to  say,  "  that,  from  the  experience  of  many  private 
persons  who  had  bred  silkworms  for  their  pleasure,  nothing" 
had  appeared  to  cause  a  doubt  that  these  may  be  nourished 
and  reared  in  England,  provided  there  were  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  mulberry  trees  to  supply  them  with  food."  To  obtain 
this  requisite,  he  is  found,  in  the  year  1608,  sending  circular 
letters  to  all  the  counties  of  England,  strongly  recommending 
the  inhabitants  to  plant  mulberry  trees.  He  directed  the 
persons  to  whom  these  letters  were  addressed  to  take  the  op- 
portunity of  the  holding  of  the  quarter-sessions,  or  of  any  other 
public  meeting,  to  persuade  and  require  those  who  were  able, 
to  buy  and  distribute  in  the  counties  the  number  of  ten  thou- 
sand mulberry  plants,  which  were  to  be  procured  in  London 
at  the  rate  of  three  farthings  per  plant.  Although  at  first 
the  public  feeling  was  averse  to  the  novel  undertaking,  yet 
the  continuance  of  the  royal  sanction  and  support,  and  a  con- 
sideration of  the  advantages  reaped  by  other  European  nations 
from  this  source,  at  length  engendered  a  growing  interest  for 
the  project. 

It  may  also  be  collected  from  some  of  king  James's  speech- 
es in  the  year  1620,  that  the  people  of  England  in  general 
testified  much  interest  on  this  subject.  But,  notwithstanding 
the  royal  countenance,  the  attempt  was  never  attended  by 
even  partial  success :  our  climate  being  evidently  too  cold 
for  the  rearing  of  silkworms  with  advantage.  Several  other 
trials,  which  have  been  made  at  later  periods,  have  proved 
equally  abortive. 

James  was  likewise  anxious  to  introduce  the  silkworm  into 
his  American  colonies,  and  several  times  urged  the  Virginia 
company  to  promote  the  cultivation  of  mulberry  trees  and  the 
breeding  of  silkworms.  He  addressed  a  letter  to  them  ex- 
pressly on  this  subject  in  the  year  1622,  conveying  to  them 
strict  injunctions  that  they  should  use  every  exertion  for  this 
purpose,  and  should  stimulate  the  colonists  to  apply  them- 
selves diligently  and  promptly  to  the  breeding  of  silkworms 
and  the  establishment  of  silk-works ;  bestowing  their  labors 
rather  in  producing  this  rich  commodity,  than  to  the  growth 
of  "that  pernicious  and  offensive  weed"  tobacco,  an  article 
to  which  his  majesty  has  recorded  and  published  his  violent 
aversion. 

The  company,  thus  incited,  showed  much  zeal  in  their  en- 
deavors to  accomplish  the  king's  wishes.  They  lost  no  time 
in  transmitting  his  majesty's  letter  to  the  governor  and  coun- 
cil of  Virginia,  together  with  particular  instructions  how  the 
colonists  might  best  employ  their  labors  in  the  production  of 


CHAP.  III. 


HISTORY   OF  SILK. 


37 


silk.  For  the  furtherance  of  this  object,  their  instructions 
were  accompanied  by  several  copies  of  a  work  on  the  man- 
agement of  the  silkworm,  written  by  Mr.  John  Bonoeil. 
This  gentleman,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia  company, 
engaged  warmly  in  the  undertaking ;  and  was  so  fully  con- 
vinced of  its  practicability,  as  to  assert  that,  with  an  adequate 
number  of  hands,  such  a  quantity  of  silk  might  be  produced 
in  Virginia,  as  in  a  very  short  time  would  sufficiently  supply 
all  Christendom. 

The  misfortunes  soon  after  this  time  experienced  by  the 
colony  of  Virginia,  and  which  involved  the  dissolution  of  the 
company,  materially  checked  the  execution  of  this  project. 
A  considerable  number  of  mulberry  trees  were  planted,  and 
flourished ;  but  little  silk  was  produced. 

In  the  year  1654,  the  rearing  of  silkworms  again  became  a 
subject  of  interest  in  Virginia.  This  revival  was  principally 
owing  to  the  exertions  of  Mr.  Edward  Diggs,  who  confidently 
asserted  that  he  had  conquered  all  the  main  difficulties  at- 
tending the  experiment.  He  endeavored  to  persuade  the 
Virginians  that  in  a  short  time  a  great  quantity  of  silk  might 
be  very  profitably  obtained ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  the 
production  was  ever  carried  to  any  extent  in  that  colony.  It 
is  probable  that  the  planters  found  a  source  of  greater  profit 
in  the  growth  of  tobacco,  for  which  they  met  with  a  ready 
market  both  in  the  mother  country  and  the  north  of  Europe. 

A  renewed  attempt  to  produce  silk  in  England  appears  to 
have  been  made  in  the  year  1629.  This  may  be  inferred 
from  a  grant  having  then  been  made  to  Walter  Aston,  of  the 
custody  of  the  garden,  mulberry  trees,  and  silkworms,  near 
St.  James's,  in  the  county  of  Middlesex ;  although  this  may 
possibly  have  been  a  continuation  of  king  James's  project  of 
the  year  1608.  The  scheme  was  once  again  revived  in  1718 ; 
a  patent  having  at  that  time  been  granted  to  John  Apple  ton, 
esq.  for  producing  raw  silk  of  the  growth  of  England.  To 
accomplish  this  undertaking,  he  was  authorized  to  raise  a 
fund  by  joint-stock  subscription.  This  he  accomplished,  di- 
viding the  capital  into  shares  of  five  pounds  each.  A  deed 
of  trust  was  executed,  and  enrolled  in  the  court  of  chancery ; 
directors  for  managing  the  concerns  of  the  company  were 
chosen  by  the  subscribers,  and  Chelsea  park,  being  conveni- 
ently situated,  and  possessing  a  soil  favorable  for  the  purpose, 
was  fixed  upon  as  the  spot  on  which  the  operations  should  be 
conducted.  A  lease  of  this  place  for  122  years  was  obtained, 
and  2000  mulberry  trees  were  soon  actually  planted;  this 
forming  but  a  small  part,  however,  of  the  vast  quantity  which 


38 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I. 


the  company  contemplated  raising.  Many  large  edifices 
were  erected  at  a  great  expense  upon  the  spot,  the  remains 
of  which  are  at  present  scarcely  discernible.  Mr.  Henry 
Barham,  who  probably  was  a  member  of  this  company,  pub- 
lished at  this  time  an  essay  on  the  silkworm,  wherein  he  la- 
bored to  prove  that  all  objections  and  difficulties  raised  against 
the  prosecution  of  what  he  calls  "  this  glorious  undertaking" 
were  mere  phantoms.  The  event,  however,  proved  him  to 
be  wrong ;  and  showed  that  difficulties  did  exist  of  an  insur- 
mountable description :  for  although  it  was  confidently  pre 
dieted  that  in  the  ensuing  year  a  considerable  quantity  of 
raw  silk  would  be  produced,  the  expectation  was  disappoint- 
ed, and  the  company  soon  sunk  into  oblivion. 

This  undertaking  had  arisen  among  the  crowd  of  specula- 
tions conceived  at  that  period,  which  produced  such  disastrous 
results ;  projects,  whether  rational  or  chimerical,  which'were 
all  alike  eagerly  embraced  by  the  insensate  multitude.  The 
dreadful  revulsion  which  followed  may  account  for  the  rapid 
extinction  of  a  scheme,  the  projectors  of  which  had  con- 
templated such  splendid  advantages. 

In  the  earliest  infancy  of  the  settlement  of  Georgia,  in  the 
year  1732,  a  piece  of  ground,  belonging  to  government,  was 
allotted  as  a  nursery  plantation  for  white  mulberry  trees,  and 
the  attention  of  some  of  the  settlers  was  soon  engaged  in 
rearing  silkworms.  This  branch  of  industry  gradually,  al- 
though slowly,  increased,  both  in  Georgia  and  South  Carolina ; 
and  it  appearing  desirable  to  government  that  this  country 
should  be  enabled  to  draw  supplies  from  its  colonies,  rather 
than  be  dependent  upon  foreign  states  for  a  material  of  con- 
tinually growing  importance  to  its  manufactures,  an  act  of 
parliament  was  passed  in  1749  for  encouraging  the  gnrwth 
of  colonial  silk ;  under  the  provisions  of  which,  all  that  was 
certified  to  be  the  production  of  Georgia  and  Carolina  was 
exempted  from  the  payment  of  duty  on  importation  into  the 
port  of  London.  Encouraged  by  the  increasing  growth  of 
raw  silk  in  these  colonies,  which  induced  a  belief,  that  by  the 
adoption  of  more  judicious  plans  an  abundant  supply  might  be 
drawn  from  them,  sufficient  to  answer  all  the  demands  of  our 
manufactures,  a  bounty  was  offered  for  the  production  of  silk, 
and  an  Italian  gentleman,  named  Ortolengi,  was  engaged,  at 
a  suitable  salary,  to  proceed  to  Georgia  and  instruct  the  col- 
onists in  the  Italian  mode  of  management.  Although,  for  a 
time,  hopes  were  entertained  that  the  Georgians  might  find  in 
this  pursuit  a  valuable  branch  of  industry ;  yet,  in  conse- 
quence of  one  or  two  unfavorable  seasons,  and  still  more  from 


chap.  ni. 


HISTORY  OF  SILK. 


39 


the  quality  of  the  silk  proving  very  indifferent,  its  culture 
soon  began  to  decline,  and  the  lessening  of  the  bounty  be- 
came a  signal  for  its  abandonment  by  the  planters.  A  small 
quantity  was  still  raised  by  the  poorest  of  the  peasantry ;  but 
before  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  production  of 
silk  was  wholly  discontinued  in  Georgia. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  cultivation  of  the  cotton  plant, 
which  in  the  mean  time  had  been  introduced,  proved  so  ad- 
vantageous to  the  planters  in  Georgia,  as  to  render  a  further 
prosecution  of  the  precarious  and  less  profitable  silk  product 
distasteful. 

The  rearing  of  silkworms  had  been  an  object  of  interest  in 
Carolina  so  early  as  the  year  1732.  This  branch  of  industry 
was  undertaken  principally  by  the  small  farmers,  many  of 
whom  produced  from  forty  to  fifty  pounds'  weight  of  silk  in 
the  season.  The  endeavors  to  increase  and  perfect  its  pro- 
duction in  this  colony  were  long  persevered  in.  In  the  year 
1771,  Louis  de  St.  Pierre  made  a  representation  to  govern- 
ment, that  at  the  expense  of  his  whole  fortune  he  had  brought 
to  perfection  the  art  of  making  wine  and  the  production  of 
silk  at  New  Bourdeaux.  His  specimens  of  wine  and  silk, 
which  were  transmitted  to  this  country,  were  thought  deserv- 
ing of  notice  by  the  patriotic  Society  for  the  Encouragement 
of  Arts,  which  testified  its  approbation  of  M.  Saint  Pierre's 
exertions  by  presenting  him  with  their  gold  medal,  accom- 
panied with  a  premium  of  fifty  pounds.  Notwithstanding 
this  stimulus  to  further  efforts,  the  quantities  afterwards 
raised  were  small,  and  the  cost  of  production  proved  too 
great  for  successful  competition  with  silk  of  other  countries. 

The  truly  useful  society  just  mentioned  persevered  for  a 
series  of  years  in  offering  rewards  for  the  production  of  silk 
in  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies,  and  discontinued  this  en- 
couragement only  when  all  hope  of  accomplishing  what  ap- 
peared so  desirable  an  object  had  ceased.  The  society  has 
repeatedly  brought  into  notice,  and  fostered,  both  by  pecuniary 
gifts  and  honorary  distinctions,  various  improvements  suggest- 
ed by  laboring  silk- weavers,  who,  but  for  its  assistance,  would 
have  wanted  the  means  of  embodying  and  realizing  their  con- 
ceptions. Descriptions  of  several  of  these  improvements  will 
be  found  in  this  volume. 

Many  parts  of  the  southern  states  of  America  appear  to  be 
as  well  adapted  for  the  cultivation  of  mulberry  trees  and  the 
rearing  of  silkworms  as  the  European  countries  in  which 
they  are  already  successfully  produced.  It  is  said  that  the 
principal  difficulty  with  which  the  Americans  had  to  contend 


40 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I. 


in  producing  silk  in  these  southern  colonies  arose  out  of  the 
circumstances  of  the  laboring  population,  which  then  con- 
sisted of  negro  slaves,  who  could  not  be  made  sufficiently  at- 
tentive and  skilful  in  the  management  of  the  business.  This 
opinion  receives  confirmation  from  the  fact,  that  the  same 
pursuit  proved,  at  one  time,  not  only  practicable  but  profitable 
in  Connecticut,  where  land  was  comparatively  high  rented, 
but  where  careful  and  intelligent  white  laborers  might  be 
procured. 

A  project  was  formed  many  years  back  to  extend  the  cul- 
ture of  the  white  mulberry  tree  over  all  the  states  of  the 
American  union,  and  a  considerable  number  was  planted  in 
consequence.  In  the  year  1789  a  very  extensive  nursery  of 
these  trees  was  established  near  Philadelphia;  another  at 
Princetown,  in  New-Jersey ;  one  at  New- York,  and  a  fourth 
in  Long  Island.  The  states  considered  it  politic  to  establish 
these  nurseries,  with  the  idea  that  in  the  then  unsettled  state 
of  Europe,  emigrants  from  the  silk  countries  might  be  al- 
lured to  a  place  where  provision  was  already  made  for  ena- 
bling them  to  pursue  their  accustomed  employment.  This 
expectation  does  not  appear  in  any  case  to  have  been  realized.* 

Establishments  for  producing  both  raw  and  wrought  silk 
have  long  flourished  in  the  settlements  of  British  India,  where 
proximity  to  the  country  of  its  original  production,  the  fitness 
of  the  climate,  and,  above  all,  the  cheapness  of  labor,  have 
contributed  to  insure  complete  success.  The  island  of  Cos- 
simbuzar  and  its  neighborhood,  in  the  province  of  Bengal,  are 
particularly  favorable  to  the  labors  of  the  silkworm.  Since 
the  year  1760  the  quantity  of  raw  silk  produced  in  the  terri- 
tories of  the  East  India  Company  has  been  very  extensively 
increased,  and  an  equal  advance  has  been  made  in  the  im- 
provement of  its  quality. 

There  are  eight  principal  silk  filatures  or  factories  belong- 
ing to  the  company  in  Bengal.  In  every  filature  are  employed, 
according  to  its  size,  from  3000  to  10,000  people ;  and  if  to 
these  are  added  the  mulberry  planters,  worm-feeders,  &c.,  the 
number  dependent  on  each  establishment  may  be  stated  at 
from  10,000  to  40,000  men,  women,  and  children. 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  introduce  the  silkworm  into 
other  parts  of  the  company's  possessions,  especially  on  the 
coast  of  Coromandel.  Dr.  James  Anderson,  who  was  par- 
ticularly zealous  in  promoting  this  among  other  useful  under- 
takings, introduced  mulberry  trees  at  Madras,  about  the  year 


*  Note  K. 


CHAP.  III. 


HISTORY  OP  SILK. 


41 


1770 ;  and,  finding  that  they  grew  luxuriantly,  endeavored 
to  procure  silkworms'  eggs  from  Bengal.  His  first  and  second 
attempts  failed;  but  the  third,  which  with  laudable  per- 
severance he  made  in  the  year  1789,  succeeded  perfectly; 
and  the  advantages  likely  to  accrue  from  the  production  of 
silk  soon  engaged  several  persons  on  different  parts  of  the 
coast  in  breeding  the  worms.  In  a  letter  addressed  by  him  to 
Sir  Joseph  Banks,  dated  26th  January,  1792,  Dr.  Anderson 
says,  "I  have  received  accounts  of  the  success  of  the  silk- 
worms at  Palamcotta  and  Masulipatam ;  as  well  as  of  the  re- 
covery of  those  that  had  been  deceased  in  the  late  rains  at 
Trichinopoly ;  so  that  a  breed  of  this  insect  is  already  estab- 
lished in  an  extent  of  600  miles  upon  the  coast."  In  a  future 
chapter  the  increasing  importance  of  this  branch  of  Indian 
commerce  will  be  shown. 

The  production  of  silk  has  always  been  deemed  an  object 
worthy  to  engage  the  attention  of  those  European  sovereigns 
who  take  much  interest  in  the  welfare  of  their  subjects.  The 
dissimilitude  of  their  own  climates  to  that  of  the  native  coun- 
try of  the  silkworm  has  not  deterred  these  potentates  from 
making  the  attempt.  Peter  the  Great  of  Russia,  so  inde- 
fatigable in  his  endeavors  to  raise  his  country  in  the  scale  of 
nations ,  did  not  neglect  any  efforts  to  obtain  for  it  this  desira- 
ble object,  and  caused  several  mulberry  plantations  to  be 
formed  and  carefully  cultivated  in  many  parts  of  his  wide  do- 
minions-. These  have  flourished  even  so  far  north  as  54°  of 
latitude. 

The  attempt  to  rear  silkworms  in  the  Russian  dominions 
was  begun  under  the  auspices  of  the  empress  Catherine,  who 
partook  of  the  desire  to  promote  the  production  of  silk  in  her 
empire.  For  this  purpose,  she  placed  a  colony  upon  an  island 
called  Achtouba,  situated  in  the  Volga,  where  a  plantation  of 
mulberry  trees  already  existed.  The  colony  consisted  of  four 
hundred  men,  besides  females.  To  these  she  granted  exemp- 
tion for  ten  years  from  all  imposts ;  after  which  term  they 
were  allowed  to  pay  their  capitation  tax  and  other  imposts  in 
silk,  taken  at  the  value  of  ten  roubles  per  pound. 

Mr.  Sievers,  by  employing  the  most  careful  and  judicious 
management,  reared  silkworms  successfully  at  Bauenhoff  in 
Livonia,  at  the  latter  end  of  the  last  century.  In  a  letter 
written  by  him  to  a  scientific  gentleman  in  England,  Mr. 
Sievers  relates,  that  at  Kiovia,  a  poor  tailor,  a  native  of  Upper 
Silesia,  living  in  a  house  opposite  to  one  of  the  mulberry  gar- 
dens planted  by  Peter  the  Great,  was  induced  to  solace  his 
leisure  hours  as  well  as  to  add  to  the  scanty  profits  of  his 
D2 


42 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I. 


calling  by  the  rearing  of  silkworms.  In  1797,  the  third  year 
after  the  commencement  of  his  labors,  he  delivered  twenty- 
five  pounds  of  silk  to  the  director  of  the  imperial  gardens,  who, 
by  order  of  the  empress,  paid  him  for  it  at  the  rate  of  ten 
roubles  per  pound.  The  poor  man  expected  that  the  year 
ensuing  would  increase  his  produce  one  fifth  part. 

The  first  riband  that  was  attached  to  the  decoration  of  the 
military  order  of  St.  George,  was  manufactured  out  of  the 
produce  received  from  the  Achtou'ba  colony ;  and,  although 
coarse  both  in  its  texture  and  material,  the  empress  averred 
with  a  smile,  that  never  in  her  estimation  had  she  worn  finer 
silk.  Establishments  are  now  regularly  formed  in  Russia  for 
manufacturing  silk  of  native  production ;  and  the  inhabitants 
flatter  themselves  with  the  expectation  that  in  a  few  years 
they  shall  become  independent  of  Persia  for  the  supply  of  this 
material. 

It  is  said,  that  the  rearing  of  silkworms  has  been  success- 
fully followed  in  Bavaria  and  other  parts  of  Germany.  The 
French  Protestant  refugees  carried  the  art  to  Brandenburg, 
where  they  settled,  under  the  protection  of  the  grand  elector 
Frederic- William,  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Mayet,  who  wrote  a  book  expressly  upon  the  culture  of  silk 
in  the  Prussian  dominions,  relates,  that  in  the  year  1790,  the 
baron  de  Heintz,  Prussian  minister  of  state,  cultivated  the 
mulberry,  and  produced  silk  upon  his  estate  which  was  ac- 
knowledged to  be  equal  to  the  finest  product  of  the  Milanese. 

A  short  time  before  the  English  obtained  possession  of  the 
isles  of  France  and  Bourbon,  the  French  government  at- 
tempted to  introduce  the  rearing  of  silkworms  in  those 
islands;  evincing  thus  a  spirit  very  different  from  that  which 
has  usually  governed  the  policy  of  countries  towards  their 
colonial  dependencies.  These  have  been  too  often  considered 
as  only  outlets  for  superabundant  productions,  and  sometimes 
even  have  been  debarred  from  growing  articles  of  use,  for 
which  nature  has  peculiarly  fitted  their  climates,  in  order 
that  the  parent  state  may  supply  them  at  a  dearer  rate  for  its 
own  undue  advantage.  In  the  case  just  mentioned,  the  gov- 
ernment of  France  granted  a  sum  of  money  to  create  rivals 
to  its  own  silk  growers,  and  sent  out  agents  properly  qualified 
to  carry  the  plan  into  effect.  The  loss  of  their  colonies  ne- 
cessarily rendered  these  attempts  abortive.  That  the  idea 
was  in  itself  well  founded,  appears  from  the  success  which 
accompanied  a  similar  attempt  afterwards  made  in  one  of 
those  colonies.  When  Sir  Robert  Farquhar  was  appointed 
governor  of  the  Mauritius,  he  procured  silkworms'  eggs  from 


CHAP.  III. 


HISTORY  OF  SILK. 


43 


Bengal,  and  intrusted  them  to  the  management  of  M.  Chazal. 
This  was  at  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1815.  In  the  month  of 
March  following,  about  80,000  cocoons  had  already  been  ob- 
tained, more  than  a  fourth  part  of  which  was  reserved  to  pro- 
duce a  brood  for  the  following  season. 

Although  M.  Chazal  had  meanwhile  distributed  silkworms 
to  many  of  the  colonists,  yet  what  he  reserved  and  reared 
himself  yielded,  in  1817,  more  than  200  pounds'  weight  of 
silk,  of  which  one  bale,  weighing  116  pounds,  was  conveyed 
to  England  in  the  following  year.  A  specimen  of  this  was 
presented  to  the  Society  for  the  Encouragement  of  Arts,  from 
which  M.  Chazal  claimed  the  premium  which  it  offered  for 
the  growth  of  silk  in  British  colonies.  The  absence  of  official 
documents,  and  the  time  necessarily  consumed  in  obtaining 
these  from  so  distant  a  possession,  together  with  some  other 
circumstances  not  important  to  be  mentioned,  caused  consid- 
erable delay  in  the  adjudication  of  his  claim  ;  but  the  requi- 
site documents  having  then  arrived,  the  society,  in  the  year 
1824,  awarded  to  M.  Chazal  their  large  gold  medal.  The 
silk,  which  was  carefully  examined  by  some  of  the  most 
eminent  brokers  in  London,  was  said  to  be  of  tolerably  good 
quality. 

A  few  years  ago,  the  Swedes  attempted  to  rear  the  tender 
silkworm  in  their  inhospitable  climate,  and  with  some  appear- 
ance of  success.  In  the  Stockholme  Journall  for  March,  1824, 
an  interesting  notice  of  the  subject  is  to  be  found.  After 
enumerating  the  motives  which  first  instigated  the  Swedes  to 
encourage  the  growth  of  silk  in  their  country,  the  statement 
thus  continues : — "  The  idea,  indeed,  is  not  new ;  and  ex- 
periments made  long  ago  presented  encouraging  results, 
though  it  appears  that,  until  the  present  moment,  the  attempt 
has  never  been  seriously  made.  Experiments  instituted  during 
the  last  year  (1823)  in  Stockholm,  for  the  purpose  of  discov- 
ering some  indigenous  tree  capable  of  nourishing  the  silk- 
worm, have  procured  silk  of  very  fine  quality.  The  culture 
of  the  mulberry  tree  is  extending  itself  in  the  provinces ;  and 
important  communications  on  the  most  convenient  mode  of 
rearing  the  worm  have  been  generally  promulgated.  The  silk 
so  produced  in  Sweden  has  confirmed  in  the  amplest  manner 
the  remark  formerly  made  on  the  superior  fineness  and  solidi- 
ty of  silk  grown  in  the  north,  compared  with  that  from  more 
temperate  climes ;  a  fact  that  has  received  the  unanimous  sanc- 
tion of  the  members  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Commerce,  as 
well  as  of  many  silk  manufacturers.  It  supports  the  ordinary 
preparation  and  dye  equally  with  the  best  Indian  silk,  possess- 


44 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


I- ART  I. 


ing  the  same  brilliancy  and  the  same  softness.  The  silk  also 
that  has  been  grown  for  the  last  few  years  in  Bavaria  is  supe- 
rior to  that  produced  in  Italy." 

Another  attempt  for  the  production  of  silk  in  the  British 
dominions  was  made  at  the  commencement  of  1825,  a  period 
when  the  rage  for  new  commercial  projects  was  scarcely  less 
violent,  or  its  eventual  revulsion  less  disastrous,  than  they 
were  during  and  following  the  memorable  speculations  of 
1718.  The  company  which  was  formed  for  the  purpose  just 
mentioned  was  incorporated  under  the  title  of  "  The  British, 
Irish,  and  Colonial  Silk  Company."  This  undertaking  was 
supported  by  characters  of  the  highest  rank  and  respectabili- 
ty, many  of  whom  were  induced  to  give  their  countenance 
to  the  project  by  a  patriotic  desire  to  ameliorate  the  condition 
of  the  Irish  peasantry,  by  adding  to  their  profitable  sources 
of  industry.  The  undertaking  should  by  no  means  be  ranked 
among  speculative  and  delusive  schemes,  raised  for  purposes 
of  evanescent  profit  to  their  projectors,  and  with  little  refer- 
ence to  ultimate  consequences.  A  royal  charter  was  obtained, 
and  active  measures  were  taken  to  promote  the  success  of  the 
design.  A  spot  of  ground,  of  about  eighty  acres,  was  selected, 
on  the  estate  of  the  earl  of  Kingston,  near  Michelstown,  in 
the  county  of  Cork,  and  in  this  place  nearly  400,000  trees  of 
the  white  mulberry  were  transplanted.  The  whole  proved 
unusually  successful,  very  few  trees  having  died,  and  many 
having  in  the  first  year  of  their  transplantation  put  forth  shoots 
twenty  inches  in  length.  A  small  but  complete  building  for 
rearing  silkworms  was  adapted  on  the  plan  of  count  Dandolo, 
and  every  thing  seemed  to  promise  that  success  which  should 
attend  judicious  plans  and  well-directed  energy.  The  experi- 
ment was  also  repeated  on  a  more  limited  scale  in  England. 
Between  70,000  and  80,000  mulberry  trees  were  planted  on 
nineteen  acres  of  fine  rich  soil  situated  near  Slough.  The 
trees  flourished  here  as  well  as  in  Ireland ;  but  the  attempt  to 
rear  silkworms  in  the  United  Kingdom  has  been  ultimately 
abandoned  by  this  company.  Its  managers  now  turn  the  whole 
of  their  attention  to  an  establishment  in  the  island  of  Malta. 
This  has  hitherto  been  attended  with  success,  and  promises 
advantageous  results  to  the  proprietors  of  the  company. 

The  cultivation  of  cotton,  which  had  formerly  been  pursued 
at  Malta,  was  checked  by  the  increased  production  of  Egypt, 
and  the  numerous  population  of  that  island  was  consequent- 
ly reduced  to  great  distress ;  this  new  enterprise,  therefore, 
which  offered  to  the  Maltese  a  prospect  of  again  turning  their 
industry  into  a  profitable  channel,  was  hailed  by  them  with 


CHAF.  III. 


HISTORY  OF  SILK. 


45 


enthusiasm.  The  nature  of  the  climate,  joined  to  other  local 
advantages,  promise  a  favorable  result  to  the  endeavors  of  the 
company  on  this  island.  The  growth  of  the  mulberry  tree  in 
Malta,  where  attention  has  been  paid  to  its  cultivation,  is  said 
to  be  more  rapid  by  at  least  one  third  than  in  Italy. 

The  recent  experience  of  this  company  leads  to  the  con- 
clusion, that  if  our  moist  and  variable  climate  do  not  in  itself 
offer  a  sufficient  obstacle  to  the  success  of  attempts  at  rearing 
the  silkworm,  there  would  still  remain  another  objection, 
which,  though  fatal  to  such  an  undertaking,  cannot  on  any 
account  be  deplored,  namely,  the  high  price  of  labor.  Silk  re- 
quires so  much  care  and  attention  for  its  production,  and  so 
great  a  number  of  persons  must  be  employed  in  an  establish- 
ment for  rearing  silkworms,  that  it  is  only  in  countries  where 
the  number  of  the  poorer  class  is  great  in  proportion  to  capital, 
and  where,  consequently,  labor  must  be  extremely  cheap,  that 
the  silkworm  can  be  reared  at  an  expense  which  offers  suc- 
cessfully to  compete  with  other  regions.  Even  then  the  su- 
perior skill  and  knowledge  of  people  to  whom  the  silkworm 
has  long  been  an  object  of  attention  will  always  insure  them 
a  superiority  over  novices  in  the  art.  This  was  one  cause  of 
failure  in  Ireland.  Unhappily,  labor  is  not  much  better  paid 
there  than  in  Italy  ;  but  the  ignorance  and  awkwardness  of 
the  Irish  peasantry,  in  bestowing  the  necessary  attentions 
upon  the  silkworms,  an  avocation  totally  differing  from  any 
to  which  they  had  previously  been  accustomed,  afforded  suffi- 
cient reason  for  rendering  their  employment  unprofitable  to 
the  growers. 

In  the  year  1826,  some  silkworms'  eggs  were  sent  to  the 
island  of  St.  Helena,  that  the  production  of  silk  might  be  at- 
tempted on  that  isolated  spot.  It  is  said  that  mulberry  trees 
are  already  flourishing  there,  and  that  success  may  be  ex- 
pected to  follow  the  experiment. 

For  a  very  long  period  silkworms  have  been  reared  in  Eng- 
land as  objects  of  curiosity  or  amusement;  and  almost  every 
schoolboy  can  testify  the  success  which  has  attended  his  cares 
in  tending  them.  There  is,  indeed,  no  doubt,  that  with  an 
equal  degree  of  attention  silk  may  be  produced  in  England 
as  well  as  in  other  countries,  situated  in  an  equally  high 
latitude  ;  but  the  high  price  of  labor  will  always  prevent 
its  culture  becoming  a  source  of  profit  to  the  producer  in 
Engknd. 

Although  the  great  increase  of  our  manufactures,  and  the 
importance  of  our  trade  in  and  consumption  of  silk,  are  fully 
shown  in  another  chapter,  yet  the  history  of  silk  cannot  per- 


46 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I. 


haps  be  better  concluded  than  by  drawing-  the  reader's  atten- 
tion to  the  enormous  quantity  of  this  material  used  in  Eng- 
land alone,  amounting  in  each  year  to  more  than  four  millions 
of  pounds'  weight.  Fourteen  thousand  millions  of  animated 
creatures  annually  live  and  die  to  supply  this  little  corner  of 
the  world  with  an  article  of  luxury  !  If  astonishment  be  ex- 
cited at  this  fact,  let  us  extend  our  view  into  China,  and  sur- 
vey the  dense  population  of  its  widely-spread  region,  who, 
from  the  emperor  on  his  throne  to  the  peasant  in  the  lowly 
hut,  are  indebted  for  their  clothing  to  the  labors  of  the  silk- 
worm. 


CHAP.  IV. 

TRADE  OF  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES  IN  SILK. 
China,  France,  Italy,  Sicily,  Turkey,  Switzerland,  Prussia,  Russia. 

The  preceding  chapters  have  shown  the  times  and  modes 
in  which  silk  was  first  introduced  into  different  states  and 
kingdoms.  It  is  now  proposed  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the 
present  condition  of  the  trade  and  manufacture  in  some  prin- 
cipal foreign  countries. 

China  is  still  as  productive  of  silk  as  in  more  remote  times : 
it  continues  to  form  one  of  the  principal  internal  trades  of 
the  empire,  furnishing  employment  to  a  greater  number  of 
individuals  than  any  other  occupation.  Sir  George  Staun- 
ton tells  us,  that  women  only  are  employed  in  Han-choo- 
foo  in  the  fabrication  of  flowered  and  embroidered  satins, 
as  well  as  other  varieties  of  the  finer  tissues,  and  that  a 
vast  number  of  workwomen  are  thus  engaged  in  very  exten- 
sive factories.* 

The  silkworm  is  reared  in  China,  for  the  purposes  of  manu- 
factures, south  of  the  Yellow  River,  but  not  far  beyond  it ;  the 
most  southern  parts  of  the  empire  being  unfavorable  to  its 
growth.  Silk  is  produced  in  the  greatest  quantity  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Nan-kin,  in  about  the  thirty-second  degree 
of  north  latitude. 

The  Chinese  faculty  of  imitation  continues  to  be  success- 
fully exercised  in  the  manufacture  of  silks :  of  this  the  Ameri- 
can merchants  are  accustomed  to  avail  themselves  profitably, 


*  Staunton's  Embassy,  vol.  ii.  p.  432. 


CHAP.  IV. 


IN  FRANCE. 


47 


sending  French  patterns  to  China,  which  are  there  copied  with 
an  exactness  which  makes  these  imitations,  in  every  respect 
save  one,  quite  equal  to  the  original  fabrics.  Being  great 
economists,  the  Chinese  are  more  sparing  in  the  use  of  their 
materials,  and  the  weight  of  the  goods  is  perhaps  one  fifth  less 
than  that  of  the  French  :  the  latter,  indeed,  are  considered  to 
be  unnecessarily  prodigal  of  their  material ;  and  the  Chinese 
imitations  present  more  than  an  equivalent  advantage,  being 
obtained  at  far  less  cost  than  the  French  fabrics. 

England  imports  a  vast  amount  of  both  raw  and  wrought 
silks  from  China.  The  latter  description  is  included  in  the 
official  custom-house  returns  with  Indian  goods,  on  which  ac- 
count its  quantity  cannot  be  accurately  stated.  The  importa- 
tion of  raw  silk  from  China  in  the  course  of  the  year  1829 
amounted  to  600,000  pounds'  weight. 


The  growth  of  silk  in  France  is  still  confined  exclusively 
to  its  southern  provinces.  Lyons,  which  is  the  greatest  silk 
manufacturing  city  of  France,  furnishes  very  few  silks  of  its 
own  growth :  it  is,  however,  the  great  emporium  whence  the 
merchants  of  Paris  and  other  cities  obtain  supplies ;  as  all 
silks  brought  from  other  places,  either  by  land  or  sea,  are 
obliged  at  least  to  pass  through  Lyons.  In  the  year  1540, 
Francis  I.  granted  to  this  city  the  privilege  of  being  an  ex- 
clusive depot,  which  was  continued  by  various  royal  ordinan- 
ces down  to  1717.  The  rate  of  duty  was  altered  by  almost  all 
these  ordinances ;  but  no  documents  are  to  be  found  whereby 
to  ascertain  what  effect  any  of  the  different  changes  produced 
upon  the  silk  trade  or  manufacture. 

For  a  short  period  (from  1720  to  1722)  the  privilege  of  in> 
port  and  deposit  was  extended  also  to  Dunkirk ;  but  in  the  lat- 
ter year  it  was  again  confined  to  Lyons,  with  the  additional 
regulation,  that  no  foreign  silk  should  be  imported  into  France 
by  any  other  port  than  Marseilles,  or  by  land  except  by  the 
bridge  Beauvoisin.  This  ordinance  also  decreed,  that  all  silk 
grown  in  France  should  be  sent  to  Lyons  for  sale,  where  it 
was  subjected  to  a  duty  of  three  and  a  half  sols  per  pound, 
while  silk  of  foreign  growth  was  burdened  with  the  heavier 
impost  of  fourteen  sols  per  pound.  The  regulations  which 
thus  favored  Lyons  at  the  expense  of  every  other  part  of  the 
French  kingdom  were  not  adopted  with  the  view  of  obtaining 
revenue  for  the  state,  but  with  the  single  object  of  benefit- 
ing that  one  city.  The  amount  received  in  duties  was  ap- 
propriated towards  the  payment  of  its  municipal  debts,  which 
would  appear  to  have  been  somewhat  considerable,  as  the 


48 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I. 


privilege  was  continued  down  to  the  period  of  the  French 
revolution. 

When  Lyons  was  in  its  most  flourishing  state,  it  was  com- 
puted that,  on  an  average  number  of  years,  6000  bales  of  silk, 
each  weighing  160  pounds,  passed  through  the  city  annually. 
Of  these  1400  bales  came  from  the  Levant,  1600  from  Sicily, 
1500  from  Italy,  300  from  Spain,  and  1200  from  Languedoc, 
Provence,  and  Dauphine.  In  the  zenith  of  its  former  prosperi- 
ty it  had  been  reckoned,  that  Lyons  employed  18,000  looms 
in  silk  manufactures.  But  the  disastrous  effects  of  the  revo- 
cation of  the  edict  of  Nantes  in  1685  gave  a  serious  blow  to 
this  prosperity ;  and  in  the  year  1698  the  number  of  looms 
amounted  only  to  4000.  This  manufacture  afterwards  revived, 
and  a  great  part  of  Europe  long  drew  supplies  of  brocade  and 
rich  silks  from  Lyons. 

The  decay  of  the  manufacture  at  Tours  was  not  less  re- 
markable. This  city,  before  the  revocation,  could  boast  of  pos- 
sessing 800  mills  for  winding  and  preparing  silk,  and  8000 
looms  for  weaving  it ;  while  40,000  persons  were  employed 
in  the  manufacture :  3000  looms  were  then  at  work  in  the 
manufacture  of  ribands  alone.  But  soon  after  the  period  men- 
tioned, Tours  employed  only  70  mills,  1200  looms,  and  about 
4000  workmen ;  while  the  consumption  of  silk,  which  in  the 
time  of  its  prosperity  had  amounted  to  2400  bales  of  160  to 
200  pounds'  weight  each,  had  decreased  to  700  or  800  bales. 

The  revolution,  of  necessity,  caused  much  alteration  in  the 
general  state  of  manufactures  in  France ;  but  Lyons,  although 
its  exclusive  privileges  were  withdrawn,  remained,  and  still 
continues  to  be,  the  principal  seat  of  the  silk  manufacture.  At 
a  very  early  period,  this  city  had  acquired  celebrity  for  the 
brilliancy  of  its  dyes,  which  were  used,  not  only  for  its  own 
manufactures,  but  also  for  those  of  Paris  and  Tours.  So  much 
jealousy  did  the  government  evince  of  retaining  this  superi- 
ority, that  it  prohibited  the  exportation  of  dyed  silk,  lest  other 
countries  should  imitate  and  rival  the  beauty  of  French  manu- 
factured goods :  a  senseless  prohibition,  which  obliged  the  silk 
merchants  of  France  to  forego  a  present  advantage,  lest  at 
some  future  period  it  might  possibly  escape  from  them. 

At  the  period  when  Savary  wrote,  it  is  stated  that  the 
manufacture  of  ribands  had  very  much  retrograded  in  France. 
Those  made  in  Paris  were  considered  as  the  best ;  but  con- 
siderable quantities  of  an  inferior  quality  were  manufactured 
at  Chaumont  and  St.  Etienne.  English  ribands,  which  were 
then  admitted  into  use  in  France,  subject  to  a  duty  of  four 
livres  per  pound,  were  greatly  preferred  by  the  Parisians  to 


CHAP.  IV. 


IN  FKANCB. 


49 


those  of  their  own  make,  and  we  consequently  enjoyed  a  con- 
siderable trade  in  them  until  the  year  1701,  when  the  import- 
ation of  foreign  silk  goods  into  France  was  wholly  prohibited. 

The  first  frames  used  in  France  for  weaving  silk  stockings 
were  introduced  into  Paris,  from  England,  in  1656.  This 
manufacture  spread  so  rapidly,  that  in  sixteen  years  from  that 
time  the  stocking  weavers  were  considered  of  sufficient  im- 
portance to  be  incorporated  by  royal  ordinance,  which  at  the 
same  time  indicated  the  kinds  of  silk  that  it  was  permitted 
the  manufacturers  to  use  in  their  construction.  Various  arrets 
were  issued  by  successive  monarchs  to  regulate  this  branch 
of  industry :  from  these  it  appears,  that  extensive  stocking 
manufactories  were  established  in  numerous  towns,  to  which, 
in  the  usual  meddling  spirit  of  the  government,  they  were 
restricted  in  the  year  1700.  The  stocking  manufacture  no 
longer  exists  in  the  greater  part  of  those  towns,  but  is  prin- 
cipally carried  on  in  the  Cevennes. 

It  is  stated,  in  the  "  Commerce  du  19me  Siecle,"  that  be- 
tween the  years  1688  and  1741  France  annually  exported  to 
England  manufactured  silks  to  the  amount  of  12^  millions  of 
francs.  In  1765  the  English  government  commenced  its  sys- 
tem of  prohibition  against  the  introduction  of  foreign  silk 
goods ;  and  to  this  circumstance  it  must,  perhaps,  be  ascribed, 
that  in  the  year  1784  the  exportation  of  wrought  silks  from 
France  to  all  countries  amounted  in  value  to  only  25,600,000 
francs.    In  1789  it  had  increased  to  29,745,000  francs. 

Immediately  after  this,  and  during  the  early  years  of  the 
revolutionary  war,  the  quantity  fell  off  very  much ;  but  after 
a  time  the  trade  somewhat  revived. 

In  1801  the  value  of  exported  wrought  silk  was  39,314,000 
francs ;  in  1820  this  had  increased  to  123,063,000  francs ;  in 
1821  it  was  111,689,000  francs;  in  1822,  99,063,000  francs; 
and  in  1823,  84,302,000  francs. 

In  1786  Lyons  employed  15,000  looms ;  the  ferment  of  the 
incipient  revolution  reduced  this  number  in  the  year  1789 
one  half ;  when  there  were  12,700  workmen  employed.  The 
state  of  the  manufacture  cannot  be  well  ascertained  during 
the  convulsions  of  the  revolution ;  but  it  is  known  that  among 
the  effects  of  that  dreadful  event,  the  number  of  silk  looms 
was  reduced,  that  in  the  year  1800  they  amounted  to  no 
more  than  3500,  employing  only  5800  artisans  in  the  manu- 
facture. After  that  time  the  trade  greatly  revived.  In  1812 
it  employed  10,720  looms,  and  15,506  workmen.  In  1824  the 
silk  looms  of  Lyons  were  said  to  amount  to  24,000,  employ- 
ing 36,000  men.    A  Lyons  newspaper  of  1825  gives  the 


60 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  t* 


exact  number  of  factories  in  that  year  as  being  8526,  and  the 
number  of  looms  20,101.  Since  that  period  both  are  said  to 
be  diminished.  One  of  the  causes  of  this  diminution  is,  per- 
haps, to  be  found  in  the  dispersion  of  looms  among  the  villages 
comprised  within  a  circle  of  ten  or  fifteen  leagues  round 
Lyons ;  provisions,  and  consequently  labor,  being  cheaper  in 
these  places  than  in  the  city. 

Foreign  competition,  and  some  inauspicious  measures  of  in- 
ternal policy,  have  also  produced  fluctuation  in  this  manufac- 
ture ;  and  we  learn  from  the  Lyons  newspapers,  as  well  as 
from  other  sources,  that  much  misery  has  prevailed  at  inter- 
vals in  that  once  flourishing  city.  In  the  beginning  of  1829, 
the  operative  silk-weavers  of  Lyons  were  in  so  great  distress 
that  a  public  subscription  was  raised  for  their  relief.  At  the 
meeting  convened  for  this  purpose  it  was  stated,  that,  of  22,000 
looms  existing  in  the  city  and  its  immediate  neighborhood, 
not  more  than  one  third  were  in  use,  while  the  wages  of 
those  artisans  who  could  obtain  employment  had,  as  a  neces- 
sary consequence,  fallen  very  considerably. 

France  produced  in  1812,  according  to  good  authority, 
987,000  pounds'  weight  of  raw  silk,  and  imported  a  like  quan- 
tity. The  average  annual  consumption  of  the  country  for  the 
years  1822  and  1823,  wTas  estimated  at  1,600,000  pounds. 

During  the  last  sixteen  years  great  efforts  have  been  made 
to  increase  the  cultivation  of  the  mulberry  and  the  production 
of  silk  in  France.  It  is  believed  that,  in  consequence,  the 
annual  produce  has,  since  the  year  1814,  been  increased  one 
third.  A  merchant  of  Lyons  states,  that  foreign  silk  does  not 
form  more  than  one  tenth  or  one  eighth  of  the  whole  quantity 
now  used  in  the  French  manufactories :  thirty  years  ago  one 
half  was  foreign.  No  very  authentic  information  can,  indeed, 
be  obtained  on  this  point.  The  want  of  even  approximative 
notions  respecting  the  growth  of  silk  in  France  cannot  be 
better  exemplified  than  by  contrasting  statements  furnished 
by  those  who  profess  to  have  good  information  on  the  subject. 
In  "  Le  Commerce  du  19me  Siecle,"  the  annual  produce  of 
1825  is  stated  to  amount  in  value  to  15^  millions  of  francs. 
Estimating  the  average  value  per  pound  at  22  francs,  the 
quantity  produced  is  found  rather  to  exceed  700,000  pounds ; 
and  in  the  "  Annals  of  Agriculture,"  published  in  1828,  the 
produce  of  raw  silk  is  estimated  to  be  of  the  value  of  60  mil- 
lions of  francs,  and  in  weight  rather  more  than  2,700,000,  if 
the  price  per  pound  be  equally  reckoned  at  22  francs. 

No  information  of  a  more  accurate  description  can  be  ac- 


CHAP.  IV. 


IN  ITALY. 


51 


quired  concerning  the  quantity  of  silk  goods  which  form  part 
of  the  external  trade  of  the  country.  This  cannot  be  ascer- 
tained even  by  reference  to  the  French  custom-house  reports, 
as,  when  a  declaration  is  made,  which  is  not  always  the  case, 
the  declared  is  usually  in  the  proportion  of  from  a  half  to  two 
thirds  of  the  real  value.  The  greater  part  is  exported  with- 
out any  declaration  of  value ;  and,  in  particular,  the  quantity 
of  goods  smuggled  into  other  countries  is  never  noticed  in 
their  custom-house  reports. 

France  prohibits  the  exportation  of  its  raw  silk ;  the  reason 
assigned  for  which  restriction  is,  that  the  country  does  not 
produce  a  supply  sufficient  for  its  own  manufactories.  It  is 
difficult  to  see  how  France  can  possibly  benefit  by  this  pro- 
hibition, so  long  as  the  markets  of  Italy  are  open  to  her  mer- 
chants, and  foreign  silk  is  continually  passing  through  her 
territories  for  the  supply  of  other  countries.  The  .raw  silk 
which  we  receive  from  France  is  the  produce  of  Italy,  merely 
passing  through  the  hands  of  French  commission  agents  in 
its  transit  between  the  countries.  In  this  way  England  is 
supplied  with  a  large  proportion  of  the  raw  silk  which  is  im- 
ported from  foreign  European  nations. 


It  is  the  policy  adopted  by  some  Italian  states  to  prohibit 
the  exportation  of  their  raw  silk.  England  is  in  consequence 
obliged  to  obtain  a  great  part  of  the  Italian  silk  which  her 
manufacturers  require,  through  France,  into  whose  territory 
it  is  smuggled.  An  intermediate  nation  thus  reaps  a  profit 
which,  but  for  these  absurd  restrictions,  would  be  acquired 
by  the  country  of  production. 

It  is  impossible  to  conceive  that  these  Italian  governments 
can  remain  ignorant  of  this  fact,  which  is  notorious  to  all  the 
world  beside  ;  and  it  is  almost  as  difficult  to  imagine  that  they 
can  believe  the  interests  of  their  subjects  to  be  protected,  by 
placing  restraints  upon  the  exportation  of  their  raw  produce. 
Any  country  which  produces  superabundantly,  would  be 
plunged  into  far  greater  distress  by  the  loss  of  a  market,  than 
would  be  experienced  by  the  people  of  other  countries  whom 
it  was  sought  to  deprive  of  that  superabundance  These  can 
generally  obtain  the  object  of  their  wishes  elsewhere,  and, 
failing  in  this,  may  either  find  a  substitute,  or  discover  that 
the  privation  is  easily  supportable,  while  the  cultivator,  who 
has  produced  the  articles  thus  unprofitably  left  upon  his  hands, 
is  plunged  into  real  and  serious  misery.  When  may  we  hope 
to  see  princes  take  a  higher  moral  ground  of  action,  and 


52 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I* 


scorning  to  connive  secretly  at  acts  which  they  openly  pro- 
fess to  discountenance  7* 

The  raw  silk  imported  direct  from  Italy  into  England  comes 
from  the  ports  of  Nice,  Genoa,  and  Leghorn.  The  quantity 
thus  obtained  does  not  equal  that  which  is  brought  through 
France.  A  great  quantity  of  raw  and  thrown  silk  is,  how- 
ever, annually  exported  from  Italy  into  various  other  countries. 

The  average  annual  amount,  computed  from  the  four  years 
between  1807  and  1810  inclusive,  was  equal  to  the  value  of 
81,407,810  Milan  livres,  or  about  two  and  a  half  millions  of 
pounds  sterling.  The  exportation  consisted  principally  of 
organzine,  or  thrown  silk,  that  is,  silk  twisted,  or  "  thrown," 
in  the  mill  in  readiness  for  weaving.  The  aggregate  propor- 
tion of  every  other  description  of  silk  was  very  inconsidera- 
ble. More  than  three  millions  of  poundsf  of  organzine  were 
exported  in  each  of  the  years  1806  and  1807. 

Sicily,  into  which  island  the  silk  manufacture  was  intro- 
duced at  so  early  a  period,  still  continues  to  derive  much  ad- 
vantage from  this  branch  of  industry,  which  is  considered  as 
the  second  great  source  of  riches  to  that  island,  the  trade  in 
corn  ranking  as  the  first. 

In  all  ages  since  its  first  establishment,  the  rulers  of  that 
country  appear  to  have  encouraged  this  manufacture  among 
its  people.  In  1752,  the  king  of  Naples  established  and  in- 
vested with  many  privileges  a  commercial  company  at  Mes- 
sina, for  erecting  manufactories  of  silks,  stuffs,  and  camblets. 

It  is  computed  that,  on  an  average  of  years,  a  quantity  of 
silk  equal  in  value  to  a  million  of  ducats  (187,500/.)  is  annu- 
ally exported  from  the  island. 

Palermo  employs  900  looms ;  its  exports,  however,  are  very 
insignificant,  most  of  its  silk  being  woven  for  home  use. 
There  are  1200  looms  at  Messina,  and  rather  more  at  Catania. 
A  variety  of  fabrics  is  made  in  the  Messinese  factories ;  but 
the  material  is  seldom  well  reeled,  dyed,  or  sorted,  and  the 
work  is  not  well  performed.  Great  part  of  this  is  exported  to 
the  Levant.  Very  little  Sicilian  silk  finds  its  way  to  Eng- 
land :  the  length  of  its  skein  differs  from  the  general  import- 
ations, which  circumstance  is  found  to  be  inconvenient  to 
the  throwster,  and  the  quality  of  the  filament  is  unsuited  to 
the  general  purposes  of  the  manufacturer. 


*  Note  L. 

t  About  seven  of  these  pounds  are  equa)  to  five  pounds  avoirdupois. 


CHAP.  IV.  IN  TURKEY,  PERSIA,  AND  SWITZERLAND.  53 

Turkey  supplies  England  with  a  considerable  quantity  of 
raw  silk.  Our  imports  from  that  country  average  more  than 
300,000  pounds'  weight  annually.  It  is  brought  to  us  from 
Aleppo,  Tripoli,  Sayda,  &c. ;  but  Smyrna  is  the  principal  port 
of  commerce,  especially  for  the  silk  of  Persia,  which  forms  a 
f  great  part  of  that  which  is  imported  from  Turkey.  The  silks 
of  Persia  are  brought  to  Smyrna  in  caravans  during  part  of 
the  year — from  January  to  September.  Tiie  caravans  dis- 
patched in  January  are  laden  with  the  finest  silk,  and  the 
quality  is  found  to  deteriorate  with  each  following  month. 
The  silk  of  Persia  comes  chiefly  from  the  provinces  of  Ghilan 
and  Shirvan,  and  the  city  of  Schamachia,  situated  near  the 
edge  of  the  Caspian  Sea.  It  is  said  that  in  some  years  no 
less  than  30,000  bales  of  silk  have  been  sent  from  these  three 
places.  The  produce  of  Ghilan  is  the  most  abundant  in 
quantity  and  the  best  in  quality.  Shirvan  and  Erivan  rank 
next ;  then  Mazanderan,  and,  lastly,  Astrabad  ;  but  the  latter 
is  so  inferior  as  to  be  usually  employed  in  forming  fabrics  in- 
termixed writh  cotton.  It  is  seldom  or  never  exported.  The 
silk  from  these  different  places  is  stored  at  Ardevil  or  Ardebil, 
unother  Persian  city,  whence  caravans  set  out  for  Smyrna, 
Aleppo,  Scanderoon,  and  Constantinople. 


The  silk  manufacture  has  of  late  years  made  such  rapid 
progress  in  Switzerland  as  considerably  to  alarm  the  French 
manufacturers.  This  advance  is  entirely  of  recent  date,  and 
has  been  caused  by  the  political  state  of  France. 

When,  in  the  year  1810,  Napoleon  made  such  strenuous 
but  vain  efforts  to  destroy  the  commerce  of  England,  and  pro- 
hibited so  strictly  the  admission  of  foreign  cotton  goods  into 
France,  the  inhabitants  settled  about  the  lake  of  Zurich  were 
extensively  employed  in  the  weaving  of  muslins.  Losing  by 
this  prohibition  their  accustomed  market,  they  transferred 
their  labors  to  the  manufacture  of  silk  goods,  as  the  one  for 
which  their  previous  habits  best  fitted  them.  Their  course  of 
industry  was  in  this  way  changed  with  so  much  success  and 
rapidity,  that  in  a  very  few  years  they  were  able  successfully 
to  compete  with  their  neighbors,  in  many  branches  of  silk 
manufacture,  in  the  German  markets.  When  the  Bourbon 
government  was  restored  in  France,  the  Swiss  weavers  were 
still  further  benefited  by  the  injury  brought  on  the  French 
manufacturers  through  the  internal  policy  of  their  govern- 
ment. The  religious  persecutions  of  1815,  1816,  and  1817, 
induced  a  considerable  number  of  persons  to  emigrate  from 
Lyons,  carrying  to  Zurich  their  skill  and  industry.   "  Thus," 


54 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I. 


as  a  writer  in  the  Precurseur  of  Lyons  remarks,  "  at  this 
epoch,  as  well  as  in  that  of  1793,  strangers  profited  and  were 
enriched  by  our  bloody  quarrels:  an  important  lesson,  fre- 
quently given  to  governments,  and  but  too  often  given  in  vain  tw 

In  1814,  Zurich  and  its  environs  contained  not  more  than 
2000  looms.  To  so  late  a  period  as  1820,  Germany  was  en- 
tirely supplied  by  France  with  wrought  silks;  but  since  that 
period  the  quantities  of  silk  goods  of  Swiss  manufacture 
poured  into  the  markets  of  Frankfort  and  Leipzig  have  been 
so  abundant  as  to  interfere  materially  with  the  sales  of  the 
French  merchants. 

In  the  beginning  of  1828,  Zurich  contained  from  9000  to 
10,000  silk  looms,  and  some  of  its  factories  were  considerable. 
Three  of  the  largest  of  these  gave  employment  to  2600  work- 
men, one  of  them  alone  maintaining  1204  artisans.  Zurich 
at  one  time  confined  its  manufacture  to  Florentines,  and  Basle 
to  taffetas ;  in  both  these  towns  all  other  kinds  of  silk  fabrics, 
with  the  exception  of  crape  and  satin,  are  now  made ;  and  in 
Basle  the  manufacture  of  ribands  is  become  very  considerable. 
At  Berne,  silk  for  umbrellas  is  manufactured  on  so  extensive 
a  scale  as  to  supply  Germany  and  the  north  of  Europe  with 
this  article  of  constant  consumption.  At  Schaffhausen  and 
St.  Gall,  only  fine  cotton  goods  used  formerly  to  be  manu^ 
factured ;  but  such  is  the  encouragement  offered  by  the  re^ 
cent  success  of  other  cantons,  that  silk  manufactures  have 
likewise  been  commenced  in  those  places. 


At  Crevelt,  in  Prussia,  are  established  very  considerable 
factories  of  ribands  and  broad  velvets,  which  not  only  find  a 
very  ready  market  in  Germany  and  the  north  of  Europe,  but 
are  likewise  extensively  exported  into  America, 


The  Russians  are  very  active  and  enterprising  in  increase 
ing  and  perfecting  the  silk  manufactures  of  their  own  coun* 
try,  and  have  already  attained  to  great  excellence  in  them, 
being  indefatigable  in  their  endeavors  to  obtain  skilful  arti* 
sans.  An  anecdote,  found  in  the  Precurseur  of  the  25th  of 
October,  1828,  shows  the  degree  to  which  they  have  sue* 
ceeded  in  these  efforts.  A  Russian  merchant,  in  the  preceding 
year,  visited  the  warehouse  of  a  silk  merchant  at  Leipzig, 
who  had  also  a  house  of  business  at  Lyons.  The  Russian 
merchant  purchased  a  dozen  pieces  of  French  silk,  and  with 
these  obtained  many  patterns  of  various  kinds  of  fabrics 
wrought  in  this  material.  At  the  fair  of  the  following  year, 
the  astonishment  and  mortification  of  the  German  merchant 


CHAP.  V.  IN  ENGLAND.  55 

were  not  a  little  excited,  on  finding  his  ex-purchaser  converted 
into  a  competitor,  and  offering  a  complete  assortment  of  silken 
stuffs  manufactured  at  Novogorod,  from  the  identical  patterns 
which  he  had  himself  unwittingly  furnished. 


CHAP.  V. 

PROGRESS  MADE  IN  ENGLAND  IN  THE  MANUFACTURE  OF  AND 
TRADE  IN  SILK. 

Earliest  Records  of  the  Introduction  of  small  Wares.— Of  broad  Silks. — 
Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. — Royal  Lustring  Company — Treaty 
of  Utrecht. — Commercial  Treaty  with  Fiance. — Introduction  of  throw- 
ing Machinery  at  Derby  from  Piedmont. — Distress  of  Weavers. — Their 
tumultuary  Proceedings. — Prohibitory  Laws. — Spitalrlelds  Act. — Bengal 
Silk. — Reduction  of  Duties. — Removal  of  Restrictions  on  foreign  Import- 
ations.—Repeal  of  Spitalfields  Acts. — Great  extension  of  Silk  Manufac- 
ture-Improvements.—Comparative  amount  of  Trade. — Smuggling. — Cost 
of  manufacturing  in  Fiance  and  England.— Duties  and  Drawbacks. 

The  earliest  historical  notice  of  the  silk  manufacture  in 
England  is  contained  in  an  act  of  parliament,  passed  in  the 
year  1363  (37  Edward  III.  cap.  5.  and  6.),  to  restrict  different 
artificers,  merchants,  and  shopkeepers  to  the  manufacture  of 
or  trading  in  one  particular  kind  of  goods,  according  to  their 
own  choice,  which  they  were  required  to  make  and  declare 
by  a  certain  day  named  in  the  act,  and  in  which  extraordinary 
restriction  especial  exception  is  made  in  favor  of  female 
brewers,  bakers,  weavers,  spinsters,  and  other  women  em- 
ployed upon  works  in  wool,  linen,  or  silk,  in  embroidery,  &c. 
J&ut  this  manufacture  must  have  been  of  little  importance, 
£md  appears  to  have  made  very  slow  progress,  since  in  the 
year  1454,  nearly  a  century  later,  a  law  was  passed  (33  Hen. 

v  I.  cap.  5.)  for  the  protection  of  the  silk  women  of  London 
against  the  importation,  for  five  years,  of  foreign  articles, 
which  were  enumerated  and  described  as  similar  to  those 
manufactured  by  them ;  such  articles  comprising  only  small 
wares,  such  as  "  twined-ribands,  chains,  or  girdles."  This 
prohibition  was  further  continued  and  extended  to  the  pro- 
tection of  various  other  branches  of  native  industry,  in  the 
year  1463,  by  an  act  (3  Edward  IV.  cap.  4.),  to  continue  in 
force  during  the  king's  pleasure ;  which  act,  enumerating  all 
the  prohibited  articles,  specifies  "  laces,  ribands,  and  fringes 

f  silk,  silk  twined,  silk  embroidered,  tires  of  silk,  purses,  and 
girdles." 

We  may  further  infer  from  this  restriction,  that  the  pro- 


56 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PAIIT  I* 


ductions  of  the  London  silk  women  did  not  then  equal  in 
quality  or  in  cheapness  the  manufactures  sought  to  be  ex- 
cluded. 

In  the  year  1482,  the  above-mentioned  act  being  no  longer 
in  force,  the  English  makers  of  silk  goods  were  all  thrown 
out  of  employment ;  and  in  consideration  of  their  great  dis- 
tress, the  importation  of  all  such  goods  was  prohibited  for 
four  years  from  that  time. 

Twenty-two  years  later,  an  act  of  parliament  (19  Hen.  VII. 
cap.  21.)  prohibited  the  importation  of  "any  manner  of  silk 
wrought  either  by  itself,  or  with  any  other  stuff,  in  ribands, 
laces,  girdles,  corses,  and  corses  of  tissues  or  points,"  upon 
pain  of  forfeiture  of  the  same;  and  by  the  same  act  it  was 
made  lawful  for  any  persons,  as  well  foreigners  as  English,  to 
import  all  other  kinds  of  silk,  as  well  as  raw  and  unwrought 
silk,  the  above  only  excepted. 

From  this  it  may  be  plainly  inferred,  that  no  manufacture  of 
broad  silks  was  at  that  time  practised  within  these  kingdoms ; 
and,  indeed,  lord  Bacon,  in  his  "  History  of  King  Henry  VII.," 
notes  this  circumstance.  It  was  only  near  the  close  of  the 
reign  of  James  I.  that,  upon  some  encouragement  afforded  by 
that  monarch  to  Mr.  Burlamach,  a  merchant  of  London,  some 
silk  throwsters,  silk  dyers,  and  broad  weavers  were  brought 
from  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  a  beginning  was  made  in 
the  manufacture  of  raw  silk  into  broad  silk  fabrics,  which  has 
since  become  of  so  much  profit  and  importance  to  the  coun- 
try, and  which  then  increased  so  rapidly,  that  in  the  year 
1629  the  silk  throwsters  of  London  formed  a  body  of  sufficient 
importance  to  be  incorporated,  under  the  style  of  "the  master, 
wardens,  assistants,  and  commonalty  of  silk  throwers." 

The  progress  made  in  this  branch  of  industry  may  be 
further  collected  from  the  terms  of  a  proclamation,  issued  in 
the  year  1630,  by  king  Charles  I.,  setting  forth,  "  that  the 
trade  in  silk  within  this  realm,  by  the  importation  thereo'f 
raw  from  foreign  parts,  and  throwing,  dyeing,  and  working 
the  same  into  manufactures  here  at  home,  is  m^ich  increased 
within  a  few  years  past.  But  a  fraud  in  the  a||eing  thereof 
being  lately  discovered,  by  adding  to  the  weighflbf  silk  in  the 
dye  beyond  a  just  proportion,  by  a  false  and  deceitful  mixture 
in  the  ingredients  used  in  dyeing,  whereby  also  the  silk  is 
weakened  and  corrupted,  and  the  color  made  worse ;  where- 
fore we  strictly  command,  that  no  silk  dyer  do  hereafter  use 
any  slip,  alder-bark,  filings  of  iron,  or  other  deceitful  matter, 
in  dyeing  silk,  either  black  or  colored ;  that  no  silk  shall  be 
dyed  of  any  other  black  but  Spanish  black,  and  not  of  the 


CHAP.  V. 


IN  ENGLAND* 


57 


dye  called  London  black,  or  light  weight ;  neither  shall  they 
dye  any  silk  before  the  gum  be  fair  boiled  off  from  the  silk, 
being  raw." 

The  same  monarch,  in  the  year  1638,  issued  directions  re- 
moving, in  part,  the  prohibitions  imposed  by  his  former  pro- 
clamation, and  permitting  such  silk  to  be  dyed  upon  the  gum, 
commonly  called  hard-silk,  as  was  proper  for  making  tufted 
taffetas,  figured  satins,  fine  slight  ribands,  and  ferret  ribands, 
both  black  and  colored ;  and  as  his  reason  for  this  departure 
from  his  former  directions  stated,  with  a  degree  of  candor  not 
always  admitted  into  the  edicts  of  princes,  that  he  had  now 
become  better  informed  upon  the  subject.  This  order  further 
directed,  that  no  stuffs  made  of  or  mixed  with  silk  should  be 
imported,  if  of  a  less  breadth  than  a  full  half  yard,  nail,  and 
half  nail,  on  pain  of  forfeiture. 

It  will  be  remarked  that  this  misguided  and  unfortunate 
prince  thus  took  upon  himself  to  regulate,  by  the  authority  of 
proclamations,  matters  which  had  previously  been  ordered  by 
acts  of  parliament.  In  many  of  these  orders,  the  king  was 
guided  by  his  own  impulses,  or  influenced  by  the  persuasions 
of  others,  rather  than  by  any  sound  or  enlightened  views  of 
the  nature  of  commerce ;  and  he  endeavored  to  render  the 
trade  of  the  country  subservient  to  his  political  and  religious 
designs,  without  reference  to  that  freedom  which  is  essential 
to  the  success  of  all  commercial  enterprise.  In  another  proc- 
lamation, issued  by  him  for  the  reforming  of  abuses  which  it 
was  alleged  had  crept  into  practice  in  the  manufacture  and 
breadth  of  silks,  the  weavers'  company  were  empowered  to 
admit  into  their  commonalty  a  competent  number  of  such  per- 
sons, whether  strangers  or  natives,  as  had  exercised  the  trade 
of  weaving  for  one  year  at  least  before  the  dale  of  a  new 
charter  then  recently  granted  to  that  company;  provided  the 
parties  so  admitted  should  be  conformable  to  the  laws  of  the 
realm,  and  to  the  constitution  of  the  church  of  England ;  as 
though  the  fabrics  which  they  wrought  were  susceptible  of 
contamination  if  touched  by  heretical  hands ! 

In  the  reign  of  his  son  these  matters  were  brought  once 
more  under  the  more  constitutional  "control  of  legislative  en- 
actments. We  learn  from  the  preamble  of  an  act  passed  in 
theiyear  1661  (13  and  14  Car.  II.,  cap.  15.,)  that  the  company 
of  silk  throwsters  in  London  then  employed  above  40,000 
men,  women,  and  children;  and,  upon  the  petition  of  that 
company,  an  enactment  provided,  that  none  should  set  up  in 
that  trade  without  serving  an  apprenticeship  of  seven  years, 
and  becoming  free  of  the  throwsters'  company. 


58 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I. 


Many  acts  of  parliament  were  from  time  to  time,  during 
this  reign,  passed  for  the  regulation  of  the  manufacture  and 
importation  of  silk ;  but  these  acts  were  subject  to  continual 
alterations  or  repeals,  and  seem  to  have  had  but  little  perma- 
nent influence. 

In  the  year  1685,  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes 
compelled  many  merchants,  manufacturers,  and  artificers  to 
fly  from  France.  The  numbers  of  these  emigrants  have  been 
variously  stated  by  different  writers,  at  from  300,000  to 
1,000,000  persons.  About  70,000  made  their  way  to  Eng- 
land and  Ireland,  with  such  property  as  the  emergency  of 
their  case  allowed  them  to  carry  away.  A  large  number  of 
them,  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  fabrication  of  silks,  re- 
sorted to  Spitalfields,  contributing  much,  by  their  knowledge 
and  skill,  to  the  improvement  of  the  manufacture  in  Eng- 
land. The  silks  called  alamodes  and  lustrings  were  intro- 
duced by  them ;  and  we  are  also  indebted  to  them  for  our 
manufactures  in  brocades,  satins,  black  and  colored  mantuas, 
black  paduasoys,  ducapes,  watered  tabbies,  and  black  velvets, 
all  of  which  fabrics  had  previously  been  imported. 

Descendants  of  many  of  these  refugees  still  are  found  in 
the  same  spot,  engaged  in  the  same  occupation.  The  revo- 
cation of  the  edict  of  Nantes  was  attended  with  effects  bene- 
ficial to  other  countries,  which  those  who  decreed  that  meas- 
ure had  not  the  skill  to  foresee.  A  large  population,  possess- 
ing knowledge  and  dexterity  in  the  arts  of  life,  were  thus 
scattered  over  Europe,  and  intermingled  with  the  less  in- 
structed of  other  nations.  The  cultivation  of  arts  and  manu- 
factures was  thus  stimulated,  and  the  general  civilization  of 
Europe  accelerated. 

The  manufacture  of  lustrings  and  alamode  silks,  then  arti- 
cles in  general  use,  which,  previously  to  the  settlement  of 
the  French  refugees  in  Spitalfields,  had  been  imported  from 
France,  was,  in  the  year  1692,  brought  to  a  state  of  consid- 
erable perfection ;  the  persons  engaged  therein  were  this 
year  incorporated  by  charter,  under  the  name  of  "  the  royal 
lustring  company,"  and  obtained  from  parliament  an  act,  pro- 
hibiting the  importation  of  foreign  lustrings  and  alamodes, 
alleging  as  the  ground  for  such  a  restriction  in  their  favor, 
that  which,  had  it  been  well  founded,  should  have  made  them 
indifferent  to  all  legislative  interference — that  the  manufac- 
ture of  these  articles  in  England  had  now  reached  a  greater 
degree  of  perfection  than  was  attained  by  foreigners.  The 
author  of  a  pamphlet,  entitled  "  Anglise  Tutamen;  or,  the 
Safety  of  England,"  written  in  1695,  with  the  intention  of 


CHAP.  V. 


IN  ENGLAND. 


69 


discountenancing  a  great  variety  of  joint-stock  trading  com- 
panies, which  then  were  much  patronized  by  the  public, 
makes  exceptions  in  favor  of  some  few  incorporations,  and 
mentions,  among  these,  the  royal  lustring  company,  as  having 
thriven  greatly,  to  the  advantage  of  the  manufacturing  indus- 
try of  the  kingdom.  In  the  sequel,  however,  this  company 
suffered  materially  from  the  illegal  importation  of  the  pro- 
hibited articles ;  and,  for  its  greater  protection,  a  new  charter 
was  confirmed  to  it  by  act  of  parliament  in  1698,  whereby  its 
powers  and  privileges  were  importantly  enlarged,  and  the 
sole  use,  exercise,  and  benefit  of  making,  dressing,  and  lus- 
trating  plain  black  alamodes,  renforces,  and  lustrings  in  Eng- 
land and  Wales  was  granted  to  it  for  fourteen  years.  But 
this  favored  corporation  was  doomed  to  encounter  a  deadlier 
foe  than  foreign  competition,  in  a  change  of  the  public  taste, 
and  fabrics  of  a  different  texture  coming  to  be  generally 
worn,  to  the  neglect  of  those  in  which  they  dealt,  the  com- 
pany expended  all  its  money,  and  was  entirely  broken  up  be- 
fore the  expiration  of  its  charter. 

The  treaty  of  Utrecht,  concluded  in  April,  1713,  was  ac- 
companied by  a  commercial  treaty  with  France,  under  which 
the  manufactures  of  each  kingdom  were  to  be  admitted  into 
the  other,  upon  the  payment  of  low  ad  valorem  duties.  In 
this  measure  of  liberal  commercial  policy,  the  government 
appears  to  have  been  too  far  in  advance  of  the  general  intel- 
ligence of  the  people,  whose  commercial  prejudices  were  so 
strongly  excited,  that  petitions  innumerable  were  presented 
to  the  parliament  against  its  ratification ;  and  after  very  vio- 
lent debates,  the  bill  for  rendering  the  treaty  of  commerce 
effectual  was  rejected  in  the  house  of  commons  by  a  small 
majority.  In  the  petition  presented  on  this  occasion  by  the 
weavers'  company  of  London,  it  is  stated,  that,  owing  to  the 
encouragement  afforded  by  the  crown  and  by  divers  acts  of 
parliament,  the  silk  manufacture  at  that  time  was  twenty 
times  greater  in  amount  than  in  the  year  1664 ;  that  all  sorts 
of  black  and  colored  silks,  gold  and  silver  stuffs,  and  ribands, 
were  made  here  as  good  as  those  of  French  fabric;  that  black 
silk  for  hoods  and  scarfs,  which,  twenty-five  years  before,  was 
all  imported,  was  now  made  here  to  the  annual  value  of  more 
than  300,000?.,  whereby  a  great  increase  had  been  occasioned 
in  the  exportation  of  woollen  and  other  manufactured  goods  to 
Turkey  and  Italy,  whence  the  raw  silk  was  imported. 

There  seems  to  have  been  the  less  pretence  for  this  oppo- 
sition on  the  part  of  the  silk  trade,  since  it  formed  their  boast 
that  they  had  successfully  imitated,  and  even  outdone,  the 


60 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I. 


French  manufacturers  in  the  quality  of  those  goods  where- 
with these  had  formerly  supplied  almost  all  the  rest  of  Eu- 
rope. And  it  appears  to  have  wholly  escaped  the  penetration 
of  the  government,  that  one  argument  upon  which  the  weav- 
ers principally  relied  for  the  continuance  of  restrictive  regu- 
lations in  their  favor,  was  capable,  as  regarded  the  general 
commercial  benefit,  of  being  more  forcibly  used  against  them : 
for  if,  in  payment  for  the  raw  silk  then  imported,  woollen  and 
other  manufactured  goods  were  given,  to  how  much  greater 
an  extent  would  these  more  natural  branches  of  industry 
have  been  carried,  if  payment  had  been  required  for  manu- 
factured silk  instead  of  the  raw  material  1  It  is  true  that  in 
such  case  the  labor  bestowed  upon  silk  fabrics  would  have 
been  so  far  lessened,  but  the  demand  for  manufacturing  labor 
throughout  the  kingdom  would  have  been  augmented  rather 
than  diminished,  since  a  larger  proportion  of  the  value  of 
woollen  manufactures  consists  in  the  wages  of  artisans,  than 
is  the  case  with  those  of  silk,  whose  original  production  is  so 
much  more  costly ;  and  even  with  reference  to  the  operative 
weavers  themselves,  their  hardships  would  not  have  equalled 
those  which,  in  such  circumstances,  usually  fall  upon  me- 
chanics, since  they  would  have  found  an  employment  for 
which  they  were  qualified  by  previous  habits  and  knowledge, 
in  the  weaving  of  those  additional  cloths  and  stuffs  which 
would  have  been  demanded.  The  truth  of  this  statement  has 
been  recently  confirmed  by  the  transference  of  manufacturing: 
industry  from  the  cotton  factories  to  the  silk  looms  of  Man- 
chester and  Macclesfield. 

When,  at  a  later  period  (September,  1786,)  a  treaty  of 
commerce  was  signed  and  confirmed  between  the  two  courts 
of  France  and  England,  under  which  the  importation  of  many 
of  the  productions  of  either  country  was  permitted  into  the* 
other,  on  principles  of  reciprocal  liberality,  and  subject  to  only 
moderate  ad  valorem  duties,  no  evil  consequences  resulted  to? 
our  manufacturers. 

This  treaty  remained  in  force  until  the  declaration  of.  war 
by  the  French  republic  against  this  country  in  February, 
1793 ;  and  during  the  entire  six  years  of  its  continuance,  al- 
though our  shopkeepers  were  daily  resorting  to  France  for 
their  purchases,  and  articles  of  French  production  were  as 
commonly  met  with  in  our  warehouses  as  were  those  of  home 
manufacture,  yet  during  no  period  of  our  commercial'  annals 
have  our  manufactures  experienced  a  more  steadily  progres- 
sive march  of  prosperity ;  for,  if  the  taste  of  English  consumers 
led  many  to  prefer  the  fabrics  of  Francer  the  tide  of  fashion 


ciiap.  t> 


IN  ENGLAND. 


61 


in  the  latter  country  set  with  at  least  equal  strength  in  favor 
of  English  goods,  and  the  warehouses  of  London  and  Man- 
chester became  the  resort  of  French  merchants,  to  a  degree 
which  furnished  constant  and  increasing  employment  to  our 
artisans. 

There  can  be  little  reason  for  doubting  that,  had  the 
French  commercial  treaty  of  1786  extended  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  silk  goods  upon  liberal  terms,  our  weavers  would,  at  a 
much  earlier  period,  have  placed  their  productions  upon  the 
same  equality,  in  point  of  excellence,  with  those  fabrics  with 
which  they  would  have  come  into  competition*  as  they  have, 
beyond  all  controversy,  lately  attained. 

Up  to  the  year  1718,  our  machinery  for  that  purpose  was 
so  defective,  that  this  country  was,  in  a  great  degree,  de- 
pendent upon  the  throwsters  of  Italy  for  the  supply  of  organ- 
zined  silk ;  but  at  that  time  Mr.  Lombe  of  Derby,  having,  in 
the  disguise  of  a  common  workman,  succeeded  in  taking  ac- 
curate drawings  of  silk-throwing  machinery  in  Piedmont, 
erected  a  stupendous  mill  for  that  purpose  on  the  river  Der- 
went  at  Derby,  and  obtained  a  patent  for  the  sole  and  exclu- 
sive property  in  the  same  during  the  space  of  fourteen  years. 
This  grand  machine  was  constructed  with  26,586  wheels, 
and  97,746  movements,  which  worked  73,726  yards  of  organ- 
zine  silk  thread  with  every  revolution  of  the  water  wheel 
whereby  the  machinery  was  actuated ;  and  as  this  revolved 
three  times  in  each  minute,  the  almost  inconceivable  quanti- 
ty of  318,504,960  yards  of  organzine  could  be  produced  daily. 
Only  one  water  wheel  was  employed  to  give  motion  to  the 
whole  of  this  machinery,  the  contrivance  of  which,  consider- 
ing the  then  state  of  mechanical  science  in  England,  speaks 
highly  for  that  of  the  constructor,  who  possessed  the  means  of 
controlling  and  stopping  any  one  or  more  of  the  movements 
at  pleasure  without  obstructing  the  continued  action  of  the 
rest.  The  building  wherein  this  machinery  was  erected  was 
of  great  extent,  being  five  stories  in  height,  and  occupying 
one  eighth  of  a  mile  in  length.  So  long  a  time  was  occupied 
in  the  construction  of  this  machinery,  and  so  vast  was  the 
outlay  it  occasioned,  that  the  original  duration  of  the  patent 
proved  insufficient  for  the  adequate  remuneration  of  its  enter- 
prising founder,  who,  on  these  grounds,  applied  to  parliament, 
in  the  year  1731,  for  an  extension  of  the  term  for  which  his 
privilege  had  been  granted.  This,  however,  in  consideration 
of  the  . great  national  importance  of  the  object*  which  was  op- 
posed to  its  continued  limitation  in  the  hands  of  any  individ- 
ual, was  not  granted ;  but  parliament  voted  the  sum  of  14,000 


62 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I. 


pounds  to  Sir  Thomas  Lombe,  as  some  consideration  for  the 
eminent  services  rendered  by  him  to  the  nation,  in  discover- 
ing and  introducing,  with  so  much  personal  risk  and  labor, 
and  in  bringing  to  perfection  at  great  expense,  a  work  so 
beneficial  to  this  kingdom ;  the  grant  being  made  upon  the 
sole  condition  that  competent  persons  should  be  allowed  to 
execute  an  exact  model  of  the  machinery,  to  be  deposited  in 
such  a  place  as  his  majesty  should  appoint,  in  order  to  diffuse 
and  perpetuate  the  manufacture.  The  act  authorizing  the  is- 
sue of  this  money  mentions,  among  other  causes  which  justi- 
fied the  grant,  the  great  obstruction  offered  to  Sir  Thomas 
Lombe's  undertaking  by  the  king  of  Sardinia,  in  prohibiting 
the  exportation  of  the  raw  silk  which  the  engines  were  in- 
tended to  work. 

The  imperfect  records  which  until  a  comparatively  recent 
period,  were  kept  of  the  progress  of  our  commercial  and 
manufacturing  occupations,  make  it  necessary  to  search  in 
the  pages  of  contemporary  writers,  in  order  to  glean  such  in- 
formation as  may  serve  to  denote  that  progress.  In  a  work 
published  in  1721,  entitled  "The  British  Merchant,"  and 
which  bears  marks  of  considerable  authority  upon  mercantile 
subjects,  it  is  stated  (vol.  ii.  p.  220.),  that  the  value  of  the  silk 
manufacture  in  England  amounted  at  that  time  to  700,000 
pounds  more  than  at  that  period  of  the  revolution,  when  im- 
portations of  wrought  silks  were  made  from  France  to  the 
annual  value  of  half  a  million  sterling. 

For  the  further  encouragement  of  this  manufacture,  an  act 
was  passed  (3  Geo.  I.  cap.  15.)  for  granting,  during  the  space 
of  three  years  then  next  ensuing,  certain  bounties  on  the  ex- 
portation of  fabrics  composed  wholly  of  silk,  or  of  mixed 
materials  whereof  silk  formed  a  portion.  This  concession 
in  favor  of  the  silk  manufacture  was  one  of  the  very  few 
legislative  interferences  affecting  the  trade  which  has  been 
founded  in  justice.  The  money  granted  on  the  exportation 
of  wrought  fabrics,  although  under  the  title  of  bounty,  was, 
strictly  speaking,  only  a  drawback  x>r  repayment  of  part 
of  the  duties  exacted  on  the  importation  of  the  raw  mate- 
rial, and  which,  otherwise,  placed  the  English  manufacture 
at  an  unfair  disadvantage  in  foreign  markets. 

It  is  stated  that  the  silk  manufacture  of  England  had  now 
been  brought  to  so  great  perfection  in  all  its  branches  as  to 
equal  the  finest  productions  of  any  foreign  nation ;  and  this 
act  for  granting  a  drawback  on  exportation,  was  declared  to 
have  for  its  object  "the  giving  of  new  encouragement  to  so 
noble  a  manufacture."  By  the  same  statute  a  farther  advan- 


CHAP.  V. 


IN  ENGLAND* 


63 


tage  was  afforded  to  the  silk  trade,  by  the  repeal  of  all  duties 
on  the  importation  of  drugs  used  in  dyeing. 

The  Russia  company,  which  enjoyed  by  charter  the  sole 
right  of  trading  between  England  and  Russia,  obtained  permis- 
sion, in  the  year  1741,  to  import  raw  silk,  the  produce  of  Per- 
sia, from  the  dominions  of  the  czar  of  Muscovy,  upon  payment 
of  the  same  duties  as  were  levied  on  the  importation  of  the 
same  article  from  the  Levant.  And  it  affords  strong  evidence 
of  the  favor  wherewith  the  silk  manufacture  was  still  regarded 
by  the  English  government,  that  they  were  willing  so  far  to 
relax  in  its  behalf  the  Navigation  Act  (12  Charles  II.)  which 
for  so  long  a  period  had  been,  and  which,  even  down  to  our 
own  time,  continued  to  be  guarded  with  so  much  jealous 
watchfulness,  as  a  main  pillar  of  support  for  our  commercial 
edifice.  Considerable  quantities  of  raw  silk  were  imported  in 
this  way,  and  this  branch  of  business  long  continued  to  prove 
highly  profitable  to  the  Russia  company. 

To  meet  the  growing  demand  for  the  raw  material  on  the 
part  of  the  English  silk  throwster,  parliament,  in  the  year 
1749,  reduced  the  duties  payable  on  the  importations  of  raw 
silk  by  the  East  India  Company  from  China  to  the  same  rate 
as  was  levied  on  that  brought  from  Italy ;  and,  in  order  to 
foster  and  extend  the  production  of  silk  in  the  North  Ameri- 
can colonies  of  Georgia  and  Carolina,  where  already  some 
considerable  progress  had  been  made  in  the  pursuit,  it  was 
permitted  to  be  brought  thence  to  the  port  of  London  free  of 
duty. 

There  is  reason  for  believing  that  the  so  long  boasted  su- 
periority of  English  silk  fabrics  over  those  of  foreign  produc- 
tion existed  less  in  reality  than  in  sanguine  imagination  and 
prejudice ;  since,  in  the  face  of  such  declared  superiority,  and 
under  the  burden  of  duties  fully  equivalent  to  those  paid  on 
the  raw  material  by  the  British  manufacturer,  foreign  goods 
continued  to  find  their  way  to  England,  to  the  great  dissatis- 
faction of  the  weavers,  who,  in  a  memorial  presented  by  them 
to  the  lords  of  trade  in  the  year  1764,  prayed  that,  at  least, 
double  duties  might  be  laid  upon  all  foreign  wrought  silks. 
To  this  prayer  their  lordships  do  not  seem  to  have  given  im- 
mediate attention ;  for  in  the  following  year,  on  the  day  ap- 
pointed for  the  meeting  of  parliament,  (the  10th  of  January), 
the  journeymen  silk  weavers  of  London,  who  were  suffering 
from  the  then  prevailing  fashion  of  wearing  French  silks,  as- 
sembled in  vast  numbers,  and  marched  to  the  parliament  house 
with  drums  beating  and  colors  flying  (as  their  successors  have 
frequently  done  on  subsequent  occasions  affecting  their  inte- 


64 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


rests),  in  order  to  promote  their  petitions  for  relief,  making 
personal  application  to  the  several  members  as  they  proceeded 
to  the  house  of  commons,  and  representing  the  wretched  situ* 
ation  of  themselves  and  their  families.  The  weavers  were  at 
this  time  not  contented  with  asking  for  the  imposition  of  ad* 
ditional  import  duties  in  their  favor,  but  prayed  for  the  total 
prohibition  of  all  foreign  wrought  silks. 

The  sight  of  such  a  multitude  of  people,  who  seemed  ripe 
for  the  commission  of  almost  any  outrages,  added  to  a  report 
that  the  weavers  were  preparing  to  set  out  from  inland  towns 
in  order  to  join  their  London  brethren,  caused  a  great  conster- 
nation in  the  public  generally,  and  more  especially  among  the 
principal  silk  mercers,  who,  by  dealing  in  the  obnoxious  ar- 
ticles, conceived  themselves  more  exposed  to  resentment.  To 
make  their  peace,  these  dealers  came  under  engagements  with 
the  weavers  to  countermand  all  their  orders  for  foreign  silks; 
a  contribution  was  made  for  the  immediate  relief  of  the  suf- 
ferers, and  parliament  reduced  the  duties  payable  upon  the 
importation  of  raw  and  thrown  silks.  By  these  measures  the 
weavers  were  appeased ;  and  the  only  violence  committed  by 
them  consisted  in  breaking  the  windows  of  some  of  those  mer- 
cers who  dealt  in  silks  of  French  manufacture. 

At  a  later  period  of  the  session  an  act  was  passed  prohibit- 
ing the  trade  in  foreign  manufactured  silk  stockings,  silk  mitts, 
and  silk  gloves ;  and  the  prohibition  which  already  existed 
against  the  importation  of  ribands,  laces,  and  girdles  of  silk, 
under  the  act  of  Henry  VII.,  was  now  enforced  with  addition- 
al penalties. 

These  compliances,  on  the  part  of  the  legislature,  with  the 
demands  of  the  weavers,  do  not  appear  to  have  produced  all 
the  beneficial  results  which  were  expected ;  as,  in  the  very 
next  year,  it  was  rendered  necessary,  by  their  outrages,  to 
pass  an  act,  declaring  it  to  be  felony,  and  punishable  with 
death,  to  break  into  any  house  or  shop  with  the  intention  of 
maliciously  damaging  or  destroying  any  silk  goods  in  the  pro- 
cess of  manufacture.  At  the  same  time,  the  importation  and 
sale  were  totally  prohibited  of  all  foreign  made  silks  and  vel- 
vets, with  the  only  exceptions  of  those  brought  from  India,  and 
of  silk  crapes  and  tiffanies  from  Italy,  but  which  last  were 
burdened  with  an  additional  duty  of  seventeen  shillings  and 
sixpence  for  every  pound  weight,  one  half  only  of  which  was 
to  be  drawn  back  on  exportation. 

The  journeymen  weavers  were,  from  this  time,  frequently 
led  to  form  combinations  for  compelling  the  masters  to  raise 
the  wagfes  of  their  labor:  and,  in  the  month  of  October, 


CHAP.  V. 


IN  ENGLAND. 


65 


1769,  notwithstanding  the  severity  of  the  enactment  just  re» 
cited,  and  in  defiance  of  it,  frequent  acts  of  violence  were 
committed  upon  the  property  of  their  employers,  and  looms, 
together  with  the  goods  in  them,  were  often  destroyed.  These 
riots  were  not  suppressed  without  bloodshed,  several  soldiers, 
as  well  as  some  of  the  misguided  weavers,  being  killed  in  the 
skirmishes. 

The  constant  disputes  which  occurred  between  the  jour- 
neymen and  master  weavers  on  the  subject  of  wages,  occa- 
sioned the  passing  of  an  act  in  the  year  1773,  whereby  the 
aldermen  of  London  for  that  city,  and  the  magistrates  of  Mid- 
dlesex for  the  county,  were  empowered  to  settle,  in  quarter 
sessions,  the  wages  of  journeymen  silk  weavers ;  and  penal- 
ties were  inflicted  upon  such  masters  as  gave,  and  upon  such 
journeymen  as  received  or  demanded,  either  more  or  less  wages 
than  should  be  thus  settled  by  this  authority.  By  the  same 
act,  all  weavers  of  silk  were  restricted,  under  penalties,  from 
having,  at  any  one  time,  a  greater  number  of  apprentices 
than  two. 

This  regulation,  which  applied  only  to  the  district  of  Spital- 
fields,  and  which  was  confirmed  by  two  subsequent  acts  (32 
Geo.  III.  cap.  44.  and  51  Geo.  III.  cap.  7),  the  first  to  include 
in  its  operation  manufactures  of  silk  mixed  with  other  mate- 
rials, and  the  second  to  extend  its  provisions  to  female  wea- 
vers, continued  in  force  until  the  year  1824.  During  its  con- 
tinuance it  was  the  occasion  of  great  difference  of  opinion 
among  those  affected  by  it.  It  is  only  during  very  recent 
years  that  a  better  understanding  has  been  generally  enter- 
tained of  the  principles  which  should  influence  the  trading 
laws  of  a  country.  The  favorable  consequences  which  have 
followed  the  abandonment  of  many  restrictions,  once  viewed 
with  favor  by  the  nation  as  being  productive  of  commercial 
advantages,  have  proved  how  greatly  those  advantages  were 
over-rated  ;  or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  how  wholly  the  re- 
strictions failed  of  attaining  their  intended  objects,  and  how 
impossible  they  are  to  be  upheld  unless  when  accompanied  by 
the  forced  and  unnatural  aid  of  war,  during  the  continuance 
of  which  the  strongest  nation  may  dictate  commercial  as  well 
as  political  law,  and  render  other  countries  tributary  to  her 
aggrandizement. 

Every  legislative  interference  between  the  manufacturer 
and  the  working  artisan  must  prove  hurtful  to  the  trade  in 
which  they  are  engaged.  By  tending  unduly  to  augment 
the  rate  of  wages,  it  must  exercise  an  injurious  effect  upon 
consumption ;  and  so  much  is  this  the  case,  that  an  augmenta- 
F2 


6G 


feILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  U 


tion  in  the  price  of  a  production,  which  would  seem  too  email 
in  amount  for  exercising  any  influence,  has  been  known  to 
ruin  a  manufacture  altogether,  by  turning  the  public  taste  per- 
manently into  new  channels,  or  by  raising  up  competition 
from  quarters  unchecked  by  similar  restraints. 

There  being  a  great  scarcity  in  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1779  of  Italian  organzined  silk,  which  was  indispensably  re- 
quired for  the  warp  in  silk  manufactures,  its  importation  was 
permitted  from  any  port  and  under  any  flag  until  twenty 
days  after  the  commencement  of  the  next  session  of  par- 
liament; and  this  relaxation  was  extended  from  year  to 
year,  by  successive  acts  of  parliament,  until  the  conclusion  of 
the  war. 

In  an  estimate  of  the  condition  and  the  annual  produce  of 
the  principal  manufacturers  of  Great  Britain,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  the  year  1783,  the  different  branches  of  silk  manu- 
facture were  said  to  amount  to  the  sum  of  3,350,000/.,  and  it 
was  farther  stated,  that  this  amount  was  progressively  in- 
creasing. In  1784,  additional  duties  were  imposed  of  one  shil- 
ling and  ten-pence  per  pound  on  raw  silk,  and  of  two  shil- 
lings per  pound  on  thrown  silk,  and  larger  countervailing 
drawbacks  were  granted  on  the  exportation  of  manufactured 
goods  composed  wholly  or  partially  of  silk. 

The  production  of  raw  silk  in  Bengal,  with  the  view  to  its 
exportation  thence,  was  but  of  trifling  amount  until  the  mid- 
dle of  the  eighteenth  century ;  and  its  quality  was  so  inferior 
as  to  occasion  its  sale  for  a  price  equal  only  to  one  third  or 
one  half  that  of  Italian  silk.  The  total  quantity  received  from 
Bengal  and  China  in  the  year  1750  was  only  43,876  pounds ; 
but  soon  after  that  period  it  became  a  favorite  object  with  the 
East  India  Company  to  encourage  its  production,  as  one  means 
whereby  to  draw  from  India  to  Europe  the  surplus  revenues 
which  were  expected  to  flow  into  their  coffers. 

In  the  year  1772,  with  the  view  of  rendering  the  silk  of 
Bengal,  which  hitherto  was  of  the  commonest  kind  and  fit 
only  for  inferior  purposes,  acceptable  to  the  English  manufac- 
turer, proper  machinery  and  competent  persons  were  sent  to 
that  country  for  the  establishment  of  filatures,  or  silk-winding 
factories,  on  the  Italian  system.  The  period  chosen  was,  in 
one  respect,  very  unfortunate,  owing  to  a  dreadful  famine 
which  at  that  time  visited  India ;  and  it  was  not  until  the 
year  1776  that  any  material  advantage  could  be  derived  from 
this  improved  system.  In  the  year  just  mentioned,  the  ship- 
ments of  raw  silk  from  Bengal  alone  amounted  to  515,913 
pounds ;  and  during  ten  years,  from  1776  to  1785  inclusive 


CHAP.  V, 


IN  ENGLAND. 


67 


the  average  importation  reached  560,283  pounds.  Although 
in  some  individual  years  the  quantity  has  fallen  short  from 
accidental  causes,  yet  its  average  amount  has  continued  to 
advance  with  tolerable  steadiness ;  and  the  importations  now 
amount  to  nearly  1,500,000  pounds  annually. 

The  quality  of  the  East  India  Company's  importations,  al- 
though much  improved  by  the  use  of  the  machinery  sent  from 
England  in  1772,  was  still  considered  to  be  greatly  inferior  to 
that  produced  in  Italy  and  Turkey ;  and,  prior  to  the  year 
1794,  it  was  thought  applicable  only  to  a  very  limited  num- 
ber of  uses.  This  state  of  things,  causing  their  importations 
to  accumulate  in  their  warehouses,  led  the  directors  to  devise 
means  for  the  more  general  introduction  of  Bengal  silk  into 
use;  and,  complying  with  the  recommendation  of  a  com- 
mittee of  their  body  appointed  for  the  purpose,  they,  in  the 
last-mentioned  year,  caused  a  portion  of  their  stock  to  be  con- 
verted into  organzine  by  silk  throwsters  in  this  country. 
Although  this  measure  encountered  a  strong  opposition  at 
that  time  from  some  branches  of  the  silk  trade,  it  was  soon 
perceived  to  be  of  considerable  benefit  to  the  country,  inas- 
much as  the  experiment  tended  to  remove  much  of  the  pre- 
judice existing  against  the  use  of  Bengal  silk,  and  the  trade 
was  rendered  less  dependent  upon  Italy,  whence,  during  so 
long  a  period,  the  greatest  part  of  the  organzine  used  by  our 
weavers  was  brought.  Up  to  this  year  (1794),  the  total 
quantity  of  silk  organzined  in  the  English  mills  did  not  ex- 
ceed 50,000  pounds'  weight  annually :  the  mills  being  prin- 
cipally occupied  in  working  singles  and  trams,  the  importa- 
tion of  which  descriptions  was  wholly  prohibited ;  and  as  the 
English  throwsters  were  often  out  of  employment,  they  were 
willing  enough  to  encourage  this  experiment  on  the  part  of 
the  East  India  directors. 

On  the  supposition  that  the  quality  of  Bengal  silk  was 
suited  to  the  objects  for  which  organzine  was  required,  there 
could  be  no  difference  of  opinion  concerning  the  policy  of 
the  step,  since  it  was  a  means  for  providing  profitable  employ- 
ment for  English  labor  and  capital.  The  opposition  which 
had  been  offered  to  the  measure  proceeded  from  merchants 
interested  in  the  importation  of  Italian  thrown  silk,  who 
found  means  to  influence,  for  a  time,  many  among  the  manu- 
facturers; but  these,  seeing  at  length  that  they  were  acting 
in  opposition  to  their  true  interests,  resumed  the  exercise  of 
their  own  judgment,  and  employed  organzined  East  India  silk 
for  many  of  their  principal  fabrics. 

From  that  time  the  importations  of  Bengal  silk  have  been 


68  SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  I* 


progressively  improving  in  quality ;  and,  in  consequence,  the 
organzine  made  from  it  has  grown  gradually  into  favor,  until 
it  now  ranks,  for  the  most  part,  very  little  below  Italian  or- 
ganzine, and,  in  some  few  instances,  has  even  sold  for  the 
highest  prices  afforded  by  the  market.  Sanguine  hopes  have 
been  expressed  by  some  persons  of  competent  judgment,  that 
at  no  very  distant  day  the  improvement  may  be  such  as  to 
render  our  manufacturers  nearly  independent  of  foreign  sup- 
plies. The  facilities  for  extending  the  production  in  India 
are  such  as  to  create  reasonable  expectations  that,  in  regard 
both  to  quality  and  price,  Bengal  silk  will  force  the  produc- 
tions of  Italy,  and  the  supplies  from  Turkey,  out  of  the 
market.  In  these  western  countries  there  is  but  one  regular 
annual  crop,  while  in  Bengal  there  are  three,  at  intervals  of 
four  months,  in  March,  July,  and  November. 

The  quality  of  China  silk,  governed  by  the  same  circum- 
stances which  limit  the  progress  of  improvement  in  all  the 
institutions  of  that  extraordinary  country,  has  continued  with- 
out variation  from  the  period  of  its  first  introduction  into 
Europe  to  the  present  hour.  Its  brilliant  whiteness,  the  prin- 
cipal merit  of  China  silk,  is  supposed  to  be  owing  to  the  ap- 
plication of  some  indigenous  production,  the  knowledge  of 
which  is  confined  to  that  country.  A  great  part  of  the  raw 
silk  imported  from  China  is  used  in  the  fabrication  of  hosiery 
and  gloves,  in  which  articles  it  is  acknowledged  by  foreigners 
that  the  English  manufacturer  has  long  greatly  excelled  the 
French,  an  advantage  attributable  to  the  superiority  of  ma- 
chinery. 

Bengal  raw  silk  is  distinguished  by  two  appellations — 
country  wound,  and  filature ;  the  former  being  furnished  by 
native  adventurers,  who  can  employ  none  but  the  rudest 
methods  for  winding  it ;  while  the  latter  is  produced  by  ser- 
vants of  the  East  India  Company,  and  treated  according  to 
the  most  approved  European  methods. 

Different  degrees  of  fineness  or  coarseness  are  denoted  in 
the  company's  filatures  in  Bengal  by  the  letters  A,  B,  C; 
silk  of  4  to  5  cocoons  is  called  A  No.  1. ;  of  6-8  cocoons,  A 
No.  2 ;  of  8-10  cocoons,  B  No.  1. ;  of  10-12  cocoons,  B  No.  2. ; 
of  12-14  and  16-18  cocoons,  B  No.  3. ;  of  18-20  cocoons,  C 
No.  1. ;  of  20-22  cocoons,  C  No.  2. ;  22-24,  &c.,  cocoons,  C 
No.  3.  The  silk  which  the  natives  reel  by  hand  is  much  in- 
ferior, and  is  marked  by  the  letters  A,  B,  C,  D,  E.  It  must, 
therefore,  be  understood,  that  the  A  No.  1.  silk  of  one  district 
in  India  will  differ  very  importantly  in  quality  from  that  of 
another  district,  although  bearing  the  same  distinctive  letter 


CHAP.  V. 


IN  ENGLAND. 


69 


and  number;  this  depending  much  upon  the  mode  of  culture, 
method  of  winding,  &c.  Even  the  filature- wound  silks  of 
different  districts  are  subject  to  the  same  difference  of  quality. 
Thus,  Bauleah  filature  is  said  to  produce  silk  inferior  in  fine- 
ness to  Radnagore  or  Cossimbazar  filature,  which,  again,  are 
excelled  by  the  produce  of  Gonatea  and  Comercolly.  In  the 
last-mentioned  of  these  filatures,  through  the  scientific  skill 
and  energy  of  the  East  India  Company's  resident,  a  system 
has  lately  been  adopted  of  giving  the  necessary  degree  of 
heat  to  the  cocoons  while  being  wound,  by  means  of  steam ; 
and  both  the  arrangement  and  execution  of  the  plans  for  this 
purpose  speak  very  favorably  for  the  talents  of  the  parties 
employed,  when  the  remoteness  of  the  situation  and  the  con- 
sequent difficulties  and  obstacles  to  be  surmounted  are  taken 
into  account. 

The  number  of  artisans  needing  employment  was  greatly 
augmented  throughout  the  kingdom  at  the  return  of  peace  in 
the  year  1815 ;  and  this  event  being  soon  afterwards  followed 
by  two  bad  harvests,  the  situation  of  the  laboring  poor  was 
rendered  still  more  distressing.  The  increased  number  of 
hands,  and  the  rise  in  the  price  of  provisions,  conspired  in 
reducing  the  rate  of  wages  so  low  as  to  render  it  impossible 
for  the  laborer,  even  when  fully  employed,  to  obtain  the  quan- 
tity of  the  cheapest  food  necessary  for  subsistence.  General 
complaint  and  discontent  of  course  ensued. 

The  riband  weavers  of  Coventry,  and  parts  adjacent,  having, 
early  in  the  year  1818,  petitioned  the  legislature  for  relief, 
their  case  was  referred  for  investigation  to  a  committee  of 
the  house  of  commons.  A  most  laborious  inquiry  upon  the 
subject  was  instituted ;  in  the  course  of  which  they  obtained 
evidence  and  information  from  great  numbers  of  the  most  in- 
telligent silk  manufacturers  and  weavers  of  London,  Coven- 
try, Macclesfield,  and,  in  short,  of  every  district  wherein  the 
silk  manufacture  had  seated  itself  in  England.  The  result 
of  this  investigation  proved  that,  although  there  doubtless 
was  much  individual  misery  among  laboring  artisans,  arising 
from  the  causes  just  mentioned,  there  wTas  no  reason  for 
imagining  that  any  particular  distress  had  visited  those  Con- 
nected with  the  trade  in  silk ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  ap- 
peared, from  the  concurring  testimony  of  all  the  witnesses, 
that  the  quantity  of  silk  goods  manufactured  and  used  through- 
out the  kingdom  was  on  the  increase,  and  that,  notwithstanding 
the  greater  number  of  looms,  the  weavers  were  all  fully  em- 
ployed, and  even  forced  to  extend  their  toil  beyond  the  usual 
tours  to  obtain  support  from  the  low  rate  of  wages. 


70 


SILK  MANUFACTURE, 


PART  I. 


That,  under  these  circumstances,  the  despairing  artisans 
should  seek  relief,  by  any  means  which  they  thought  likely 
to  afford  it,  can  excite  no  wonder ;  but  that  the  master  manu- 
facturer, who  saw  one  establishment  after  another  rising  up 
around  him,  while,  at  the  same  time,  his  own  commercial 
transactions  were  continually  extended,  should  declare  his 
opinion  that  this  increase  of  the  trade  was  occasioned  by  the 
distress  which  accompanied  it,  and  should  pray,  as  a  remedy, 
for  the  imposition  of  additional  restrictions  upon  his  trade,  is 
somewhat  surprising;  and  when,  in  compliance  with  this 
prayer,  a  committee  of  legislators  are  seen  gravely  recom- 
mending enactments,  one  of  the  first  inevitable  consequences 
of  which  would  have  been  the  aggravation  of  the  evil,  by 
throwing  a  large  number  of  artisans  out  of  employment,  it 
becomes  difficult  to  withhold  the  expression  of  astonishment. 
The  house  of  commons  spared  itself  the  imprudence  of  car- 
rying into  effect  this  recommendation  of  their  committee; 
and  within  three  years  from  that  time  a  committee  of  the 
house  of  lords  recommended  strenuously  the  entire  abolition 
of  those  restrictions,  the  extension  of  which  had  so  lately 
been  declared  "  absolutely  necessary." 

During  the  whole  of  the  period  between  the  years  1773 
and  1824  the  silk  trade  in  England  was  kept  in  its  artificial 
state  by  restraints  on  the  importation  of  foreign  manufactured 
goods.  Being  thus  secured  in  the  possession  of  the  home 
market,  and  in  the  supplying  of  our  immediate  dependencies, 
there  was  but  little  incitement  for  the  weavers  to  improve 
their  art.  Thus  the  same  inartificial  loom,  and  the  same 
throwing  machinery,  continued  to  be  used  down  to  the  very 
moment  when  the  competition  of  foreign  artisans  compelled 
the  attention  of  our  throwsters  and  weavers,  and  obliged  them 
to  devise  means  for  more  successfully  meeting  the  produc- 
tions of  foreign  looms  in  our  own  markets. 

The  silk  goods  of  France  had  always  found  their  way  to 
this  country,  in  a  limited  quantity,  through  smugglers ;  and 
being,  in  consequence  of  their  then  superior  quality,  eagerly 
sought  by  all  who  could  procure  them,  our  manufacturers 
were  dismayed  at  the  prospect  of  their  legal  admission,  al- 
though loaded  with  heavy  protecting  duties.  From  being 
always  wholly  dependent  upon  home  demand,  the  silk  manu- 
facture was  liable  to  serious  fluctuations  with  every  change 
of  fashion.  The  extensive  sales  of  one  season  were  fre- 
quently followed  by  the  diminished  consumption  of  the  next. 
The  weavers  then  deprived  of  employment  would  sink  into 
the  depth  of  wretchedness.  This  constant  alternation  of  proa- 


CHAP.  V. 


IN  ENGLAND. 


71 


perity  and  distress  had  always  attended  the  silk  trade  of 
England,  although  the  preponderance  of  the  former  state  was 
proved  by  the  increasing  amount  of  the  manufacture,  com- 
paring one  period  with  another  in  the  course  of  years. 

It  was  with  a  view  to  lessen  this  fluctuation,  and  meet  the 
altered  state  of  commerce  attending  the  return  of  peace,  and  to 
place  the  silk  trade  upon  a  basis  of  natural  capability,  rather 
than  of  artificial  support,  that,  in  the  year  1824,  the  whole 
system  was  changed.  The  high  duty  on  raw  silk  was  aban- 
doned, for  one  merely  nominal ;  that  on  thrown  silk  was  re- 
duced nearly  one  half,  and  the  admission  of  foreign  manufac- 
tured goods  was  rendered  legal  after  the  5th  of  July,  1826. 

It  was  hoped  that  the  weavers,  having  so  material  a  con- 
cession in  their  favor,  in  the  alteration  of  the  duties,  would 
have  been  enabled,  during  the  two  years  which  must  elapse 
before  the  admission  of  manufactured  goods,  to  prepare  for  a 
successful  rivalry  with  the  foreign  weaver ;  but  they  were 
led  by  the  increased  demand,  consequent  upon  the  abatement 
of  duty,  rather  to  employ  their  powers  in  augmenting  the 
quantity  than  in  improving  the  quality  of  their  fabrics. 

The  local  acts  of  1773,  regulating  the  wages  of  silk 
weavers  in  and  about  London,  commonly  called  the  Spital- 
fields  Acts,  the  provisions  of  which  had  been  subsequently 
applied  to  Dublin,  were  wholly  repealed,  as  has  already  been 
mentioned,  in  the  month  of  March,  1824.  The  acts  were 
approved  and  defended  by  some  persons  well  acquainted  with 
the  trade,  on  the  ground  that  their  operation  tended  to  secure 
to  the  workman  only  fair  and  reasonable  wages  for  his  labor, 
and  to  prevent  an  exorbitant  rise  of  poor  rates.  When  the 
demand  for  any  particular  article  of  manufacture  is  slack,  a 
competition  among  the  artisans  engaged  in  its  production 
must  always  ensue,  which,  in  the  absence  of  prohibitory  en- 
actments, will  lead  them  to  accept  less  wages ;  and  thus  the 
articles  of  their  production  being  furnished  at  lower  prices, 
an  increased  demand  is  created,  which  brings  things  once 
more  to  their  natural  level.  But  the  operation  of  this  local 
act,  by  constantly  maintaining  the  prices  of  goods  at  their 
highest  point,  lessened  the  chances  of  increased  consumption, 
and  consequently  protracted  the  period  of  relief ;  while  the 
master  manufacturer,  being  restricted  from  the  payment  of 
less  than  the  regulation  prices  for  labor,  was  without  the 
temptation  to  add  to  his  stock  of  goods,  in  the  hope  of  a  re- 
vived demand,  which,  under  similar  circumstances,  has  often 
lightened  the  evil  to  the  laboring  artisan. 

In  its  general  operations,  this  compulsory  regulation  of 


72 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  1. 


wages  was  fatally  opposed  to  the  adoption  of  improvements 
depending  on  the  use  of  machinery.  The  weaver  was  paid  a 
certain  price  for  the  performance  of  labor  with  his  own  im- 
plements. However  much  it  would  have  abridged  that  labor 
could  he  have  borrowed  the  aid  of  machinery,  the  means  for 
this  were  never  within  his  reach.  In  other  branches  of  manu- 
facture, processes  have  been  importantly  simplified  by  the  in- 
vention of  artisans,  who  always  find  in  their  employers  every 
willingness  to  incur  the  necessary  risk,  and  to  assist  them  by 
making  the  requisite  experiments,  knowing  that  they  must 
share  in  the  consequent  advantage.  The  greatest  improvement 
that  has  yet  been  made  in  figured  silk  weaving  was  the  pro- 
duction of  an  operative  weaver.  Had  this  invention  been  in- 
troduced in  England  during  the  existence  of  the  local  act,  the 
important  branch  of  manufacture  just  mentioned  must  have 
been  abandoned  in  Spitalfields.  The  weavers  could  not  by 
any  means  have  accomplished  the  purchase  of  the  machine ; 
and  as  the  masters  must  have  paid  the  same  prices  in  either 
case,  they  assuredly  would  not  have  put  themselves  to  ex- 
ense  in  the  matter.  The  consequence  in  such  case  would 
ave  been,  that  the  country  manufacturer,  being  able  to  make 
such  arrangements  with  the  weavers  in  his  employ  as  were 
called  for  by  the  alteration  of  circumstances,  would  have 
undersold  the  London  trader,  and  monopolized  the  business. 
That  this  is  not  a  fanciful  or  doubtful  view  is  proved  by 
the  fact ;  for  since  the  repeal  of  this  restrictive  enactment, 
the  master  manufacturers  have,  at  their  own  charge,  ac- 
tually furnished  improved  machinery  for  the  use  of  the  ope- 
rative weavers,  and  have  participated  with  them  in  the  re- 
sulting benefits. 

During  the  continuance  of  these  acts,  there  was,  in  the 
Spitalfields  district,  no  medium  between  the  full  regulation 
prices  and  the  total  absence  of  employment.  It  does  not  ap- 
pear that  wages  were  ever  fixed  so  high  as  to  enable  the 
weavers  to  save  much  of  their  earnings,  when  even  they 
were  fully  employed.  Had  it  been  otherwise,  the  improvi- 
dence which  usually  characterizes  the  uneducated  poor,  would 
have  prevented  their  reaping  advantage  from  the  circum- 
stance ;  and  it  must  surely  be  better,  on  every  account,  that  a 
man  so  circumstanced  should,  in  seasons  of  dullness,  work  for 
even  a  scanty  pittance  rather  than  that  he  should  be  wholly 
incapacitated  from  contributing  to  the  support  of  himself  and 
his  family. 

The  district  of  Spitalfields  has,  it  is  true,  enjoyed  a  very  ma- 
terial advantage  over  every  other  place  in  the  kingdom  where 


CHAP.  V. 


IN  ENGLAND. 


73 


the  silk  manufacture  has  been  established.  Its  proximity  to 
the  great  mart  for  consumption,  and  the  ever-varying  demands 
of  fashion  in  the  metropolis,  have  given  constant  employment 
to  a  certain  extent,  without  much  reference  to  the  cost  of 
production ;  but  as  this  source  of  demand  must  necessarily  be 
far  below  the  power  of  supplying  it,  superior  artisans  alone 
have  obtained  employment  by  reason  of  it,  and  the  relief  has 
consequently  been  far  more  partial  in  its  effects  than  under 
other  circumstances  it  might  have  proved.  Some  intelligent 
manufacturers,  who  advocated  the  regulation  system,  argued, 
that  since,  on  account  of  duties  on  the  raw  material  and  the 
cost  of  its  transport,  England  could  not  compete  with  the  Con- 
tinent, but  must  have  its  market  limited  strictly  to  its  own 
wants,  and  those  of  its  immediate  dependencies,  it  was  of 
little  importance  whether  wages  were  high  or  low ;  for  if  the 
prices  had  been  reduced  by  the  whole  amount  of  wages,  the 
actual  consumption  would  not  have  been  extended  by  it ;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  if  the  price  of  labor  were  left  without  re- 
striction, the  selfish  disposition  of  many  master  manufactu- 
rers would  lead  them  to  take  every  unfair  advantage  of  the 
journeymen  weavers,  who  would  thence  be  driven,  habitually, 
to  the  resource  of  the  poor-rates,  and  thus,  deprived  of  their 
feelings  of  honest  independence,  would  sink  in  the  scale  of 
society,  with  morals  deteriorated  equally  with  their  outward 
condition.  Allowing  to  this  argument  all  the  force  and  phi- 
lanthropy which  can  be  demanded,  it  must  be  admitted  that  to 
be  effectual  and  equitable  the  acts  should  have  embraced  the 
regulation  of  wages  in  all  the  silk  manufactories  throughout 
the  kingdom ;  and  the  proof  of  this  is  afforded  by  the  fact, 
which  has  never  baen  disputed  by  even  the  warmest  advo- 
cates for  regulation,  that  the  operation  of  the  Spitalfields  act 
occasioned  the  removal  of  many  branches  of  the  silk  trade  from 
London  to  districts  in  the  country  beyond  the  limits  of  that 
restrictive  enactment. 

Notwithstanding  the  contrary  tendency  of  this  measure, 
the  trade  of  Spitalfields  has,  accompanied,  it  is  true,  by 
some  distressing  fluctuations,  gone  on  increasing.  If  one 
branch  of  manufacture  was  attracted  elsewhere  oy  the  greater 
cheapness  of  labor,  others  were  called  into  existence ;  and 
London,  from  the  cause  before  explained,  has  always  been,  and 
will  continue  to  be,  the  nursery  for  the  infant  branches  of 
the  manufacture. 

The  abolition  of  duties  on  the  importation  of  raw  silk  in 
the  year  1824,  and  the  total  alteration  in  our  system  of  re- 


74 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I- 


strictions  which  followed  that  measure,  have  tended,  hy  their 
happy  consequences,  greatly  to  enlighten  the  public  mind 
upon  the  subject  of  commercial  prohibitions.  The  silk  trade 
of  England,  which,  in  the  opinions  of  many  experienced  per- 
sons, existed  only  through  the  exclusion  of  the  manufactures 
of  other  countries,  has  received  new  life  from  the  breaking 
down  of  the  barriers  raised  for  its  protection. 

During  the  ferment  which  accompanied  this  revolution  in 
our  commercial  policy,  and  when  the  minds  of  some  were 
filled  with  apprehensions,  preparations  were  made  by  the 
great  majority  of  the  manufacturers  for  a  most  important 
extension  of  our  productive  powers.  The  capital  set  free  by 
the  abolition  of  the  duty  was  not  suffered  to  lie  dormant,  but 
was  employed  by  them  in  accomplishing  this  extension.  The 
number  of  throwing  mills  in  the  country  was  increased 
from  175  to  266,  and  of  spindles  from  780,000  to  1,180,000 : 
the  looms  employed  in  Spitalfields  amounted  in  number  to 
17,000 ;  and  so  great  was  the  demand  for  thrown  silk,  that 
although,  for  the  moment,  the  foreign  supply  was  increased 
by  nearly  fifty  per  cent.,  and  the  number  of  mills  was  aug- 
mented in  the  degree  just  mentioned,  still  the  weavers  were 
frequently  obliged  to  wait  during  months  for  the  full  execu- 
tion of  their  orders  by  the  throwsters. 

In  1824  and  1825  all  was  excitement  and  over-production 
in  every  branch  of  our  national  commerce  and  industry,  and 
then  followed  the  dreadful  revulsion  which  will  live  so  long 
in  the  memories  of  our  merchants  and  manufacturers.  In  the 
month  of  July,  1826,  the  admission  of  foreign  silk  manufac- 
tured goods  was  to  commence,  under  a  duty  equivalent  to 
about  thirty  per  cent,  on  their  value  ;  during  the  season  of 
depression,  which  is  ever  unfavorable  to  the  formation  of 
sound  opinion,  a  clamor  was  raised  against  this  relaxation, 
the  prospect  of  which  was  alleged  as  the  main  cause  of  the 
weavers'  distress.  Happily,  however,  for  the  best  interests 
of  the  country,  its  commercial  policy  was  swayed  by  one, 
who,  like  the  celebrated  Turgot,  had  the  ability  to  see,  and 
the  firmness  to  uphold,  measures  of  wisdom  and  of  prudence, 
in  opposition  to  the  clamor  of  his  opponents.  Among  these,  it 
is  to  be  presumed,  there  is  scarcely  to  be  found  one  who  does 
not  now  acknowledge,  with  thankfulness  and  admiration,  the 
justness  of  his  views,  which  then  passed  for  visionary  specu- 
lations, and  the  constancy  of  his  mind,  which  they  were  then 
prone  to  stigmatize  as  obstinacy. 

The  law  permitting  the  importation  of  foreign  manufac- 


CHAP.  V. 


IN  ENGLAND. 


75 


tured  silks  was  allowed  to  come  into  operation,  and  has  done 
more  for  the  development  of  skill  in  the  English  weavers, 
than  might  have  been  produced  during  ages  of  a  dull  and  en- 
ervating monopoly.  The  boast  of  former  days,  so  often  made, 
and  with  so  little  foundation,  is  now  fully  realized,  and  the 
fabrics  of  our  artisans  vie  successfully,  in  excellence,  with 
the  most  beautiful  performances  of  the  continental  weavers, 
so  that  many  of  the  productions  of  our  looms  are  sought  and 
viewed  with  preference  in  countries  whose  superior  advan- 
tages were  held  up  to  the  English  weavers  as  causes  for  ap- 
prehension amounting  to  dismay. 

A  short  time  previous  to  the  full  operation  of  the  law  of 
1824,  a  silk  manufacturer  of  high  respectability  and  skill 
quitted  France  and  formed  an  establishment  in  London ;  this 
became  an  immediate  object  of  jealousy  to  the  English  wea- 
vers, who  complained  that  it  was  used  principally  as  a  cover  for 
an  illicit  introduction  of  the  then  contraband  fabrics  of  France. 
This  accusation  was  met,  on  the  part  of  the  foreigner,  with 
a  demand  for  the  strictest  investigation,  and  the  contents  of 
his  warehouse  were  subjected  to  a  severe  scrutiny.  When,  as 
the  result  of  the  inspection,  a  seizure  had  been  made  of  thirty- 
seven  pieces  of  goods,  which,  in  the  estimation  of  the  most 
competent  judges  from  Spitalfields,  were  unquestionably  of 
foreign  make,  the  individual  English  weavers,  whose  skill  had 
produced  the  articles,  were  brought  forward  to  disprove  the 
allegation. 

Is  any  further  argument  required,  to  prove  the  accuracy  of 
judgment  that  dictated  this  departure  from  a  system  of  bur- 
thensome  duties  and  restrictions,  which,  while  other  branches 
of  our  manufacturing  industry  had  been  advancing  with  giant 
strides  in  the  race  of  improvement,  kept  the  silk  trade  alone 
in  a  state  of  listless  inactivity  1  If  so,  it  will  be  found  in  the 
evidence  of  custom-house  returns. 

Were  any  individual  year  singled  out  as  an  example  of  this 
fact,  it  might  be  considered  as  inconclusive,  and  perhaps  un- 
fair. The  period  immediately  following  the  alteration  of  a 
system  is  not  one  wherein  the  permanent  effects  of  that  al- 
teration can  be  rationally  considered  ;  and  the  trading  of 
the  first  year  after  the  abolition  of  the  heavy  duties  might 
have  been  thereby  stimulated  to  an  unnatural  extent ;  but  this 
objection  cannot  apply,  if  the  period  of  comparison  be  spread 
over  a  space  of  five  years,  for  in  that  time,  any  amount  of  un- 
due excitation  and  over-trading  would  have  found  its  correc- 
tion in  following  years  of  consequent  depression. 


76  SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  I. 

Contrasting,  therefore,  the  five  years  immediately  preced- 
ing the  alteration  of  system,  with  an  equal  period  following 
that  measure,  we  find,  that  in  the  year 

lbs. 

1819,  the  importation  was,  —raw  silk,    -   -  1,480,990 
thrown,      -   -  301,588 


1820,  raw  silk, 

thrown, 

1821,  raw  silk, 

thrown, 


1822, 
1823, 


raw  silk, 
thrown,  - 

raw  silk, 
thrown, 


Making  a  total  of  -   10,925,646 

in  the  last  five  years  of  prohibition.  


1,702,416 
309,953 

1,940,516 
350,209 

2,037,415 
370,273 

2,085,972 
346,314 


lbs. 
1,782,578 


2,012,369 
2,290,725 
2,407,688 
2,432,286 


In  1824,  the  first  year  of  low  duties,  the  importation  was — 

lbs. 

raw  silk,  -  -  3,540,910 
thrown,      -   -  452,469 


1825, 


raw  silk, 
thrown, 


1826   raw  silk, 

thrown, 

1827,  -------     raw  silk, 

thrown, 


1828, 


raw  silk, 
thrown, 


Making  a  total  of 


3,030,756 
556,642 

1,955,042 
289,325 

3,755,242 
454,015 

4,162,550 
385,262 


lbs. 
3,993,379 


3,587,398 

2,244,367 

4,209,257 

4,547,812 
18,582,213 


in  the  first  five  years  of  relaxation ;  exhibiting  an  increase  of 
no  less  than  seventy  per  cent,  in  the  annual  consumption  of 
the  country. 

It  has  been  stated,  that  when,  in  the  year  1824,  the  legis- 
lature determined  upon  altering  the  system  by  which  the  silk 
manufacture  was  conducted  ;  and  legalized,  prospectively, 
the  importation  of  foreign  silk  goods  under  a  rate  of  duty 
which  was  judged  to  afford  sufficient  protection  to  the  home 
manufacturer,  concession  was  so  far  made  to  the  apprehen- 


CHAP.  V. 


TN  ENGLAND. 


77 


sions  of  this  class  as  to  defer  the  operation  of  that  portion  of 
the  law  for  two  years,  which  interval  was  asserted  to  be  re- 
quisite in  order  to  enable  the  English  weaver  to  prepare  him- 
self, by  the  production  of  goods  fitted  for  that  object,  for  the 
formidable  competition  in  which  he  was  about  to  engage. 

That  men  occupied  in  any  particular  calling  should  by 
want  of  judgment  and  information  be  betrayed  into  measures 
against  their  interest,  is  not  extraordinary ;  prevented  by  the 
circumstances  wherein  they  are  placed  from  taking  more  than 
a  partial  view  of  the  subject,  they  are  prone  to  fill  up  the 
prospect  with  chimeras,  and  shrink  with  apprehension  from 
phantoms  of  their  own  creation :  but  it  is,  on  the  other  hand, 
truly  surprising  that  others,  whose  faculties  had  no  such  in- 
fluences to  mislead  them,  should  yet  have  failed  on  this  occa- 
sion to  perceive  that  the  same  interval  which  was  granted  to 
the  home  manufacturer  was  equally  enjoyed  by  the  foreigner, 
during  which  he  might  accumulate  a  large  stock  of  goods 
ready  to  be  poured  into  our  markets  at  the  moment  of  the  act 
coming  into  operation.  This,  in  fact,  w^as  the  course  pursued 
by  the  French  ;  and  when  the  near  prospect  of  this  inunda- 
tion had  created  a  new  subject  for  alarm  in  the  minds  of  our 
own  manufacturers,  an  expedient  was  adopted  as  a  remedy, 
which  was  equally  at  variance  with  liberality  as  it  affected 
our  neighbors,  and  contrary  to  sound  policy  as  it  regarded 
ourselves. 

The  French  weavers  had  already  been  accustomed  to  make 
their  silk  goods  of  one  particular  length ;  and  with  the  design 
of  rendering  these  their  preparatory  labors  unavailing,  a  law 
was  passed  by  parliament,  whereby  it  was,  among  other  things, 
enacted,  that  only  silks  of  certain  declared  lengths,  different 
altogether  from  those  hitherto  made  and  used  in  France, 
should  be  admitted ;  disqualifying  thus  from  legal  importation 
all  goods  then  made  with  a  view  to  the  English  market.  The 
consequences  of  this  enactment  were,  that  the  French  manu- 
facturers set  instantly  to  work  to  make  fresh  goods  of  the  pre- 
scribed length  for  English  consumption,  while  the  prohibited 
pieces,  falling  as  instantly  in  value,  were  purchased  by  the 
illicit  trader,  and  smuggled  into  this  country  ;  their  low  price 
causing  them  more  effectually  to  interfere  with  our  domestic 
production.* 

It  had  never  been  found  practicable,  under  the  system  of 
exclusion,  to  prevent  the  prosecution  of  this  contraband  trade 
in  silk  goods.   French  silks  and  ribands,  from  their  then  supe- 


*  Note  M. 
G2 


78 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I. 


riority  to  those  of  our  own  production,  had  always  been  pre- 
ferably sought  by  our  countrywomen :  and  to  such  an  extent 
was  this  trade  systematized,  that  silk  goods  of  all  descriptions 
might  be  purchased  in  France ;  the  seller  taking  upon  himself 
to  guaranty  their  safe  delivery  in  England,  at  the  very  house 
of  the  purchaser,  and  relieving  himself  in  turn  from  the 
chances  of  loss,  by  insuring  the  amount  at  offices  established 
for  that  purpose,  and  where  policies  were  granted  with  as 
much  facility  against  loss  by  seizure,  as  for  proteciion  against 
the  elements- — the  premium  varying,  of  course,  according  as 
a  greater  or  less  degree  of  vigilance  was  found  to  be  exerted 
by  our  revenue-officers.* 

With  the  knowledge  of  these  practices  full  in  their  minds, 
and  aware,  from  experience,  of  the  impossibility  of  effectually 
stopping  them,  the  admission  of  foreign  silks  was  no  longer 
matter  of  choice  with  our  government ;  and  the  only  question 
for  consideration  was  how  to  draw  from  this  branch  of  com- 
merce the  highest  amount  of  revenue.  It  was  evident,  that, 
by  fixing  the  rate  of  duty  too  high,  the  French  smuggler  and 
the  insurance  offices  would  continue  their  successful  competi- 
torship ;  and  the  government  was  sorely  perplexed  by  the  cer- 
tainty of  this  on  the  one  hand,  and  by  the  overcharged  fears 
of  our  manufacturers  on  the  other,  in  their  endeavors  to  effect 
an  accurate  adjustment  of  the  question. 

Independently  of  the  enormous  expense  attending  estab- 
lishments for  the  prevention  of  illicit  trading, — and  this  pe- 
cuniary evil  is  one  of  no  inconsiderable  magnitude, — govern- 
ments would  appear  to  be  under  a  moral  obligation  to  remove, 
as  far  as  possible,  all  incentives  to  the  commission  of  the 
crime  of  smuggling.  The  opinion,  that  infractions  of  revenue 
laws  are,  at  most,  but  venial  offences,  is  one  very  generally 
held  among  the  uneducated ;  and,  judging  from  the  encour- 
agement afforded  to  smugglers,  the  idea  is  not  by  any  means 
confined  to  that  class  :  if,  however,  crimes  are  to  be  estimated 
with  reference  to  their  probable  influence  upon  the  general 
well-being  of  society,  the  smuggler's  calling  can  by  no  means 
be  considered  harmless ;  since,  by  familiarizing  him  with  vio- 
lations of  the  law  in  one  of  its  codes  or  branches,  it  tends  to 
break  down  the  barriers  which  should  restrain  him  in  regard 
to  moral  observances  generally ;  and,  in  truth,  a  laxity  of 
practice  in  this  so-esteemed  venial  fault  leads  from  one  step  to 
another,  through  various  gradations  of  crime,  until  the  mind 
and  heart  become  at  length  wholly  corrupt  and  brutalized ; 


*  Note  N. 


CHAP.  V. 


IN  KNGLANB. 


79 


and  murders  the  most  cruel  and  atrocious,  perpetrated  in  de- 
fending the  objects  of  their  criminal  traffic,  are  the  melancholy- 
consequences. 

While  the  necessity  exists  for  the  imposition  of  duties,  it  is 
hardly  to  be  hoped  that  smuggling  can  altogether  cease  ;  nor, 
indeed,  does  it  appear  possible  for  any  government,  however 
strong  and  vigilant,  effectually  to  counteract  the  diligence 
and  activity  of  those  who  draw  their  subsistence  from  illicit 
trading :  but  that  much  may  be  done  in  lessening  the  evil,  by 
a  judicious  adjustment  of  the  scale  of  duties,  is  rendered  evi- 
dent by  the  fact,  that  since  the  duty  on  foreign  silk  goods  has 
been  placed  on  its  present  footing,  it  has  become  comparative- 
ly indifferent  to  the  trader,  as  a  question  of  profit,  whether  to 
pass  them  regularly  through  the  custom-house,  or  to  insure 
the  value  against  the  chances  of  seizure  ;  the  demands  of  the 
smugglers  and  the  insurance  offices  being  nearly  equal  to  those 
of  the  government.  From  this  it  may  fairly  be  inferred,  that 
the  amount  imported  of  smuggled  silk  goods  has  been  greatly 
diminished :  many  persons  who  would  have  little  or  no  objec- 
tion to  these  importations  on  the  score  of  their  illegality, 
would  yet  be  restrained  from  embarking  in  adventures  attended 
with  risk  of  loss,  and  would  prefer  to  follow  the  course  of  vir- 
tuous and  good  citizens  from  the  moment  that  an  opposite  line 
of  conduct  ceased  to  be  accompanied  by  extra  profits  ! 

The  inducements  for  smuggling  afforded  by  the  imposition 
of  exorbitant  duties,  although  strong,  are  yet  by  no  means  so 
great  as  where  the  importation  of  an  article  of  commerce  is 
altogether  prohibited.  This  affords  the  greatest  encourage- 
ment to  the  illicit  trader ;  since  it  directly  enlists  among  the 
ranks  of  his  customers  that  numerous  and  influential  class  of 
persons  which  estimates  the  value  of  things  according  to  their 
scarcity  and  difficulty  of  attainment,  giving  to  the  interdicted 
article  a  factitious  superiority,  which  disappears  at  the  first 
breath  that  destroys  the  prohibition.  Is  it  not  notorious,  that 
during  the  whole  period  of  their  interdiction,  French  silks 
and  ribands  were  to  be  seen  in  every  society  that  laid  claim 
to  the  distinction  of  fashion ;  and  that  India  silk  handkerchiefs 
were  to  be  found  universally  in  the  pockets  of  men  of  the 
upper  and  middle  classes,  and  even  adorning  the  necks  of  the 
laborer  and  the  artisan  1 

Prohibitory  laws  seem  to  be  considered  unjust  and  arbitrary 
interferences  with  the  natural  liberty  of  man,  and  to  carry 
with  them  none  of  the  sanctions  of  morality  :  they  are  broken, 
consequently,  without  hesitation,  by  persons  who  would  yet 


SO  SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  ti 

scruple  to  withhold  clandestinely  the  payment  of  any  rate  of 
duty  that  might  be  imposed.* 

It  is  not  asserted  that  the  introduction  of  foreign  manufac- 
tured silk  goods  should  be  at  once  permitted  free  from  the 
imposition  of  any  duty.  It  has  been  contended,  that  some  pro- 
tection is  called  for,  because  the  foreign  manufacturer  is  in 
the  country  of  production,  while  the  cost  of  the  raw  material 
is  enhanced  to  us  by  the  expense  of  carriage ;  an  argument 
scarcely  deserving  of  any  consideration,  since  the  conveyance 
of  manufactured  articles  must  be  at  the  least  as  expensive  as 
that  of  the  raw  material ;  and,  besides,  so  long  as  France  con- 
tinues to  draw  any  part  of  her  supplies  from  abroad,  the  price 
of  the  whole  of  the  silk  manufactured  in  that  country  must 
be  governed  by  the  cost  of  the  portion  which  is  imported. 
But  while  the  expense  of  living  is  higher  in  Great  Britain 
than  it  is  in  those  countries  whose  political  and  financial  cir- 
cumstances place  them  in  a  less  artificial  state,  the  wages  of 
labor  ought  to  be  and  will  be  higher  in  something  like  an 
equal  ratio.  Greater  comforts  are  needed  by  the  English 
artisans,  in  consequence  of  the  less  favorable  nature  of  our 
climate ;  and  if,  after  taking  all  these  circumstances  into  cal- 
culation, it  is  yet  found  that  the  laboring  classes  here  are  not 
all  sunk  so  deeply  into  the  abyss  of  poverty  and  wretchedness 
as  those  of  some  neighboring  states  may  be,  it  will  not  thence 
be  argued  that  their  situation  is  too  favorable,  and  that  the 
principle  of  buying  in  the  cheapest  market  should,  as  is  some- 
times insisted  on,  be  carried  to  so  extreme  a  length  as  would 
lower  them  to  the  same  miserable  level,  and  reduce  them  to 
the  procurement  of  bare  subsistence.!  There  is  too  much 
reason  for  believing  that  this  is,  in  many  of  our  manufacturing 
districts,  the  unhappy  condition  of  our  laboring  artisans;  and 
occurring,  as  it  generally  does,  with  reference  to  branches 
of  industry  wherein  we  have  no  foreign  rival  to  contend 
against,  legislative  protection  would  be  unavailing;  but  so 
long  as,  by  the  imposition  of  a  moderate  duty  upon  importa- 
tion, the  real  comfort  of  a  large  and  deserving  class  of  our 
fellow-countrymen  can  be  maintained,  there  are  surely  few, 
if  any,  who  would  object  to  the  impost :  but  to  carry  this  pro- 
tection beyond  the  limit  here  pointed  out,  would  be  injurious 
towards  other  classes  of  the  community,  without  insuring,  in 
any  adequate  degree,  the  particular  benefit  that  was  intended. 

In  regard  to  the  silk  manufacture,  the  duty  required  in 
order  to  maintain  the  English  weavers  in  the  same  relative 


*  Note  O. 


t  Note  P. 


CHAP.  V. 


IN  ENGLAND. 


ei 


position  which  they  already  hold  with  those  of  France,  is  very 
much  lower  than,  without  inquiry,  many  would  be  led  to 
imagine.  On  consulting  a  comparative  statement  drawn  up 
by  an  experienced  silk  manufacturer  of  London,  it  appears 
that,  independent  of  duties,  which  are  purposely  kept  out  of 
view,  the  entire  difference  in  the  cost  of  one  pound  of  the 
best  thrown  silk,  when  manufactured  into  sixteen  yards  of 
Gros-de-Naples,  is  five  shillings  and  sixpence,  or  barely  four- 
teen and  a  half  per  eent.  :*  of  this  amount  of  difference,  it  will 


*  Comparative  estimate  of  tjie  cost  of  one  pound  of  silk  when  manu- 
factured into  Gros-de-J\aples  at  Lyons  and  London  respectively. 

In  London. 

£  s.  d.  £  s.  d. 

Price  current  of 
fine  tram  silk 


In  Lyons. 

£.  s,  d. 

Price  current  of  organzine 
25s.  per  lb.,  8  ounces  of 
which  0  12  6 

Ditto  of  tram  22s.  6d.  per 
lb.,  8  ounces  of  which  -  0  11  3 

Dyeing  warp  and  shoot  -  -  0  Oil 


in  Italy  12 

Export  duty  and 

expenses  -  -  -  -00 
Carriage  to  Calais  0  0 


1  4  8 

Add  4  ounces  for  loss  in 
dyeing  and  waste,  to  make 
16  ounces  when  manufac- 
tured  0  6  2 


Winding  and  warping  ls.2d, 
Weaving  16  yards., 
reckoning  1  oz.  to 
the  yard,  at  A\d. 
per  yard  6  0 


1  10  10 


per  lb.  124 

Eight  ounces  of  which  -  0  11  2 

Price  current  of 
fine  organzine 
in  Piedmont  -  -  1  3  0 

Duty  and  ex- 
penses   0  0  9| 

Carriage  to  Calais  0  0  3} 


0  7  3 


1  18  1 

Difference  in  favor  of  the 
French  manufacturer  -  0  5  6 


per  lb.    14  1 
Eight  ounces  of  which  -  0  12 
Dyeing  warp  and  shoot, 
black  and  ordinary  co- 
lors, soft  and  souple  -  0  1  6 


Add  4  ounces  for  loss  in  1 
dyeing  and  waste,  to 
make  16  ounces  when 
manufactured  0 


4  8} 


6  2 


2  3 


1  10  10J 

Winding  and  warping  2  0J 
Weaving   16  yards, 

reckoning  1  ounce 

to  the  yard,  at  8d. 

per  yard  10  8 

 0  12  8$ 

2  3  7 


The  freight  and  expenie  from  Calais  are  not  included  in  the  above 


SILK  MANUFACTURE, 


PART  r. 


be  seen  that  the  sum  of  four  shillings  and  eight  pence,  or 
twelve  and  a  quarter  per  cent,  is  made  up  of  the  higher  wages 
paid  in  London  for  the  actual  weaving  of  the  fabric ;  the 
higher  charge  of  the  dyer  amounts  to  seven  pence;  and  the 
small  remaining  sum  is  divided  among  the  persons  employed 
in  warping  and  winding  the  silk. 

This  comparison  is  made  on  the  supposition  that  Italian 
thrown  silk  is  used  in  both  cases  ;  and,  as  already  mentioned, 
excluding  the  amount  of  duty  payable  on  importation  to  this 
country.  This  duty  is  after  the  rate  of  three  shillings  and 
sixpence  per  pound ;  but  the  importer  is  furnished,  when  it  is 
paid,  with  a  transferable  title  to  draw  back  the  amount  upon 
the  exportation  of  an  equivalent  weight  of  wrought  silk ;  of 
this  title  he,  of  course,  avails  himself,  either  personally  or  by 
proxy,  and  it  would,  consequently,  be  improper  to  consider 
the  duty  in  forming  this  comparative  estimate. 

It  has  been  well  remarked  by  the  baron  Charles  Dupin, 
who,  from  his  diligent  researches  into  all  subjects  connected 
with  commercial  questions,  is  entitled  to  have  his  opinions 
received  with  a  high  degree  of  respect  and  confidence,  that 
in  the  most  considerable  branches  of  manufacture,  the  most 
decided  superiority  has  been  obtained  by  people  with  whom 
the  price  of  labor  is  dearer  than  with  their  rivals.  He  in- 
stances the  cotton  manufactures  of  England,  which  are  fur- 
nished better  and  cheaper  than  by  any  other  people  of  Europe, 
although  labor  is  dearer  in  Great  Britain  than  in  any  other 
country  of  our  hemisphere.  He  then  brings  forward  the 
manufacture  of  linens,  in  which  the  Dutch  and  Belgians  sur- 
pass and  sell  cheaper  than  the  Bretons,  although  the  price  of 
labor  is  dearer  in  Belgium  and  Holland  than  it  is  in  Britany  : 
and  he  further  shows,  that  in  the  production  of  fine  woollens, 
France  surpasses  and  undersells  Spain,  although  the  price  of 
labor  in  the  former  is  higher  than  in  the  latter  kingdom.* 

The  superiority  in  these  instances,  which  is  sufficiently 
striking,  Dupin  rather  refers  to  higher  attainments  of  me- 
chanical skill,  and  greater  degrees  of  commercial  knowledge 
and  enterprise. 

Is  it  then  expecting  too  much  to  hope  that,  by  continuing 
to  apply  to  the  silk  manufacture  the  same  amount  of  skill  and 
enterprise  which  have  served  to  gain  for  us  a  pre-eminence 


statement :  the  cost  of  transporting  manufactured  goods  from  Lyons  to 
London,  which  is  greater,  must,  in  such  case,  have  been  added  to  the 
price  of  the  Lyons  manufacture. 
*  JVol©  Q. 


CHAf.  V. 


IN  ENGLAND. 


83 


so  decided  in  our  cotton  fabrics,  we  may  shortly  become  suffi- 
ciently expert  to  bring  the  produce  of  our  silk-looms,  unpro- 
tected by  discriminating"  duties,  into  successful  competition 
with  those  of  France,  and  to  meet  the  latter  in  the  fair  spirit 
of  rivalry  in  those  foreign  markets  which  have  hitherto  been 
virtually  closed  against  us  1 

It  does  not  require  any  very  deep  research  into  the  subject 
to  discover  that  the  silk  manufacture  of  England  has  received, 
in  all  its  branches,  a  most  important  impetus  from  the  altera- 
tion of  system  which  began  in  the  year  1824.  For  a  time 
this  impulsion  showed  itself  only  in  the  augmented  quantity 
of  raw  material  submitted  to  the  labors  of  the  weaver;  but 
from  the  period  when  wrought  silks  of  foreign  manufacture 
were  admitted  legally  into  competition  with  those  of  domes- 
tic fabric,  our  artisans  have  proved  how  capable  they  are  of 
evincing  as  great  a  degree  of  ingenuity  in  this  branch,  as 
England  has  so  long  been  accustomed  to  display  in  other  manu- 
factures. The  once  existing  disparity  in  quality  between 
goods  of  French  and  English  make  has,  with  some  very  un- 
important exceptions,  not  merely  disappeared,  but  actually 
ranged  itself  on  the  side  of  the  British  artisan ;  and  as  re- 
gards the  cost  of  conversion,  if  the  spur  of  competition  has 
not  urged  us  forward  in  an  equal  ratio,  it  has  yet  done  much, 
— more  indeed  than,  without  experience  of  the  fact,  was  once 
thought  possible.  Improvements  in  the  machinery  employed, 
both  in  throwing  and  weaving,  have  led  to  this  gratifying  re- 
sult— that  the  cost  of  the  processes  of  organzining  silk  has 
fallen  to  little  more  than  one  half  what  it  formerly  amounted 
to,  and  a  much  greater  proportional  abatement  has  occurred 
in  figure  weaving. 

Can  it  be  pretended,  that  these  advantages  would  have  en- 
sued under  the  old  enervating  system  of  high  duties  and  pro- 
hibitions 7  and  does  it  not  seem  desirable  that  the  legislature 
should  follow  up  this  result,  removing  by  degrees,  but  as 
rapidly  as  consists  with  safety,  the  remaining  mounds  and  de- 
fences against  foreign  interference  1  Until  the  arrival  of  a 
state  of  things  under  which  these  may  all  be  abolished,  Eng- 
land can  hardly  hope  to  employ  her  silk-looms  in  the  service 
of  foreign  countries ;  but  if  it  be  desirable, — and  who  can 
dispute  that  it  is  sol — to  export  our  silks  in  company  with 
our  cotton  manufactures,  would  it  not,  by  exciting  emulation, 
accelerate  that  event,  if  it  were  known  that  every  coming 
year  some  abatement  would  be  made  from  the  scale  of  pro- 
tecting duties,  until  they  should  be  wholly  abolished  ?  If  the 
foregoing  statements,  carefully  as  they  have  been  collected 


84 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  I. 


and  examined,  should  be  thought  entitled  to  credit,  the  duty 
at  present  levied  upon  foreign  manufactured  silk  goods  is,  in 
most  cases,  double  what  is  needed  to  place  the  productions 
of  France  upon  an  equality  with  our  own  ;  and  if  this  dispro- 
portion has  arisen,  as  is  believed  to  be  the  fact,  since  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  rates,  and  the  opening  of  our  markets  to 
foreign  manufactured  silks,  in  the  year  1826,  does  it  not  offer 
reasons  sufficient  for  revision  and  abatement,  while  it  holds 
out  the  certain  prospect  of  further  and  progressive  opportuni- 
ties for  reduction,  until,  under  their  abolition,  the  British  silk 
manufacturers  will  become,  first,  undisputed  masters  of  our 
home  markets,  and  next  artificers  for  others! 

The  duties  now  chargeable  upon  the  importation  of  raw, 
thrown,  and  manufactured  silks,  as  well  as  the  drawback  re- 
coverable on  re-exportation,  may  be  found  in  the  following 


table : — 

£  s.  d. 

Knubs,  or  husks  of  silk,  and  waste  of  silk,  the  cwt   0   1  0 

Raw  silk,  the  lb   0   0  1 

Thrown  silk,  not  dyed,  namely — 

Singles,  the  lb   0    1  6 

Tram,  the  lb   0    2  0 

Organzine  and  crape  silk,  the  lb   0    3  6 

Thrown  silk,  dyed,  namely — 

Singles,  or  tram,  the  lb   0    3  0 

Organzine,  or  crape  silk,  the  lb   0    5  2 

Manufactures  of  silk,  or  of  silk  mixed  with  any  other  mate- 
rial, namely — 

Silk  or  satin,  plain,  the  lb   O  il  0 

or,  and  at  the  option  of  the  officers  of  the  customs,  for 

every  100Z.  of  the  value   25    0  0 

Silk  or  satin,  figured  or  brocaded,  the  lb   0  15  0 

or,  and  at  the  option  of  the  officers  of  the  customs,  for 

every  100Z.  of  the  value   30   0  0 

Gauze,  plain,  the  lb   0  17  0 

or,  and  at  the  option  of  the  officers  of  the  customs,  for 

every  100Z.  of  the  value   30    0  0 

Gauze,  striped,  figured,  or  brocaded,  the  lb   1    7  6 

or,  and  at  the  option  of  the  officers  of  the  customs,  for 

every  100Z.  of  the  value   30   0  0 

Velvet,  plain,  the  lb   1    2  0 

or,  and  at  the  option  of  the  officers  of  the  customs,  for 

every  100Z.  of  the  value   30   0  0 

Velvet,  figured,  the  lb   1    7  6 

or,  and  at  the  option  of  the  officers  of  the  customs,  for 

every  100Z.  of  the  value  -   30   0  0 

Ribands,  embossed  or  figured  with  velvet,  the  lb   0  17  0 

or,  and  at  the  option  of  the  officers  of  -the  customs,  for 

every  100Z.  of  the  value  . .  30   0  0 

And  further,  if  mixed  with  gold,  silver,  or  other  metal,  in 
addition  to  the  above  rates,  when  the  duty  is  not  charged 
according  to  the  value   0  10  0 


CHAP.  V.  IN  ENGLAND.  85 

£  8.  d. 

Fancy  silk,  net  or  tricot,  the  lb   1    4  0 

Plain  silk  lace,  or  net,  called  tulle,  the  square  yard   0    1  4 

Manufactures  of  silk,  or  of  silk  mixed  with  any  other  ma- 
terial, the  produce  of  and  imported  from  places  within 
the  limits  of  the  East  India  Company's  charter,  for  every 


100Z.  of  the  value   20   0  0 

Millinery  of  silk,  or  of  which  the  greater  part  of  the  mate- 
rial is  of  silk,  namely — 

Turbans  or  caps,  each  ■   0  15  0 

Hats  or  bonnets,  each   15  0 

Dresses,  each   2  10  0 


or,  and  at  the  option  of  the  officers  of  the  customs,  for 

every  100Z.  of  the  value   40   0  0 

Manufactures  of  silk,  or  of  silk  and  any  other  material,  not 
particularly  enumerated,  or  otherwise  charged  with  duty, 
for  every  100/.  of  the  value   30   0  0 

Articles  of  manufacture  of  silk,  or  of  silk  and  any  other 
material,  wholly  or  part  made  up,  not  particularly  enu- 
merated, or  otherwise  charged  with  duty,  for  every  100Z. 
of  the  value   30   0  0 

Drawback  is  allowed,  as  under,  on  the  exportation  of  silk 
manufactured  goods,  its  gross  amount  being  limited  to  the 
amount  of  duties  previously  paid  on  foreign  thrown  silk,  as 
has  already  been  explained : — 

£  s.  d. 

For  every  pound  weight  of  manufactured  goods,  composed  of 


silk  only   0    3  6 

For  every  pound  weight  of  silk  and  cotton  mixed,  whereof 

one  half  at  the  least  shall  be  silk   0    1  2 

For  every  pound  weight  of  silk  and  worsted  mixed,  whereof 

one  half  at  the  least  shall  be  silk   0   0  7 


To  throw  additional  obstacles  in  the  way  of  smuggling,  the 
importation  of  foreign  wrought  silk  goods  is  restricted  to  the 
ports  of  London,  Dublin,  and  Dover ;  and  can  only  be  effected 
m  vessels  of  at  least  seventy  tons  burthen,  except  when 
brought  direct  from  Calais  to  Dover,  for  which  trade,  vessels 
that  are  only  of  sixty  tons  burthen  may  be  licensed  by  the 
lords  of  the  treasury,  or  by  the  commissioners  of  his  majesty's 
customs. 


H 


86 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  If. 


PART  m 

ON  THE  CULTURE  OF  SILK. 

CHAPTER  t 

ON  THE  CULTURE  OF  THE  MULBERRY  TREE, 

pifferent  Species  of  the  Mulberry  Tree. — Comparative  Qualities  as  Food  for 
Silkworms. — Soil  and  situation  most  favorable  for  its  Growth. — Manner  of 
raising  it. — From  Seed. — From  Cuttings. — Ingrafting. — Number  of  Broods 
of  Silkworms  annually  reared  in  different  Countries. — Nutritive  Qualities 
of  the  Mulberry  Leaf. — Preservation  of  Leaves. — Quantity  of  Leaves  that; 
may  be  annually  taken  from  one  Tree. — The  Mulberry  Leaf  sacred  to  the 
Silkworm. 

The  first  object  of  attention,  preparatory  to  any  extensive 
attempt  for  the  production  of  silk,  must  be  the  culture  of  the 
mulberry  tree,  the  leaves  of  which  form  the  sole  subsistence 
of  the  silkworm. 

This  tree,  the  moras  of  botanists,  is  a  genus  of  the  tetran-= 
dria  order,  belonging  to  the  monaeia  class  of  plants.  Linnaeus 
enumerates  seven  distinct  species  of  the  mulberry  tree. 

The  Nigra,  or  black-fruited  species,  is  well  known  in  this 
country,  and  much  prized  for  the  fruit  which  it  so  abundantly 
bears.  Any  particular  description  of  it  here  would  be  super- 
fluous. 

The  Alba,  or  white-fruited  mulberry,  differs  from  the  nigra 
in  having  its  stem  straighter,  and  its  bark  smoother  and  of  q. 
lighter  color.  Its  leaves  are  likewise  smoother,  thinner,  much, 
smaller,  and  of  a  lighter  green.  The  fruit,  which  is  of  a  pale 
gray  color,  is  small,  of  a  vapid  sweetness,  and  of  no  value. 

The  Rubra,  or  red  Virginia  mulberry  tree,  differs  but  little 
from  the  alba,  except  in  the  red  color  of  its  fruit. 

The  Tartar ica,  or  Tartarian  species,  abounds  on  the  banks 
of  the  Volga  and  the  Tanais. 

The  Papyfera,  or  paper  mulberry,  differs  from  the  other 
species  in  having  palmated  leaves.  From  the  bark  of  its 
branches  the  Japanese  prepare  their  paper.  Its  leaves  am 
also  used  as  food  for  the  silkworm,  for  which  purpose  the  tree 
is  now  successfully  cultivated  in  France.* 

The  two  remaining  species,  the  Tinctoria  and  Indica,  are 
pot  used  for  the  nourishment  of  the  silkworm. f 


Note  R, 


t  Note  S- 


CHAP.  I*     CULTURE  OF  THE  MULBERRY  TREE.  87 

The  mulberry  tree  is  hardy,  of  quick  growth,  and  easily 
naturalized  in  all  climates.  The  black  species  has  always 
been  cultivated  for  its  fruit  in  Europe.  The  white  sort  comes 
from  India,  whence  it  has  been  introduced  into  all  those 
western  countries  which  have  attempted  the  culture  of  silk.* 

The  respective  qualities  of  the  different  species,  as  con- 
nected with  the  silkworm,  cannot  be  better  pointed  out  than 
by  observing,  that  if  leaves  of  the  white,  the  red,  and  the 
black  mulberry  be  given  at  the  same  time  to  the  insect,  it 
will  eat  first  the  white,  next  the  red,  and  lastly  the  black,  in 
the  order  of  the  tenderness  of  the  leaves.  The  Tartarian 
seems  to  hold  as  high  a  place  in  its  esteem  as  either  the  red 
or  black  kind :  all,  however,  give  place  to  the  white,  which* 
as  it  came  originally  from  China,  would  appear  to  be  its  most 
natural  food. 

Most  writers  on  the  subject  affirm  that  the  white  mulberry 
is  always  used  in  China,  while  some  few  assert  that  the 
Chinese  now  feed  their  silkworms  on  the  Tartarian  species. 

The  white  sort  is  genera] ly  planted  for  this  purpose  in 
Europe,  its  leaves  being  more  eagerly  desired  by  the  worms. 
The  trees  of  this  species  likewise  possess  the  advantage  of 
coming  into  leaf  a  fortnight  earlier  than  the  black,  for  which 
reason  the  eggs  may  be  hatched  earlier  in  the  spring,  and  the 
cares  of  rearing  the  insects  are  not  prolonged  too  far  into  the 
hottest  season.  The  white  mulberry  tree  is  likewise  of 
quicker  growth,  is  not  so  much  injured  by  the  constant  pluck- 
ing of  its  leaves,  nor  is  it,  like  the  black,  incommoded  by  a 
great  quantity  of  fruit.  The  best  reason,  however,  if  it  be 
correct,  that  has  been  given  for  preferring  it,  is,  that  the  silk 
of  worms  which  feed  upon  its  leaves  is  finer  than  where  other 
kinds  are  substituted.  Count  Daridolo  has,  indeed,  found,  that 
the  quality  of  the  filament  does  not  solely  depend  upon  the 
food  of  the  insect,  but  is  also  influenced  by  the  degree  of 
temperature  in  which  it  is  reared. 

In  cold  climates,  the  black  thrives  better  than  the  white 
mulberry.  It  likewise  bears  double  the  quantity  of  leaves 
suitable  for  food.f  In  Persia  the  silkworm  is  nourished  alto- 
gether by  leaves  of  the  black  species.  In  Granada,  where 
silk  of  an  excellent  quality  is  produced,  the  same  system  is 
followed.  Swinburne,  who  travelled  in  Calabria  in  1784,  re- 
lates that  the  red  species  was  there  generally  preferred,  be- 
cause the  leaves,  not  appearing  until  ten  or  fourteen  days 
later  than  those  of  the  white  mulberry,  are  therefore  less  sul> 


*  Noto  T. 


t  Note  U. 


88 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  ir. 


ject  to  injury  by  frost.  This  reason  for  its  preference  is  in 
other  climates  assigned  as  the  cause  of  its  rejection. 

The  roots  of  the  mulberry  tree  strike  very  deep  into  the 
ground,  so  that  the  surface  not  being  impoverished  as  it  is  by 
many  trees,  whose  roots  are  found  more  in  the  upper  soil, 
other  kinds  of  cultivation  may  be  prosecuted  around  it.  Nei- 
ther its  shade,  nor  the  dropping  of  rain  from  its  leaves,  is  con- 
sidered prejudicial  to  plants  growing  beneath. 

Moist  lands  in  valleys  and  near  rivers  induce  a  very  rapid 
growth  in  the  trees ;  but  their  leaves  contain,  in  such  situa- 
tions, too  much  watery  matter,  and,  though  eaten  voraciously, 
are  hurtful  to  the  worms  from  their  comparative  want  of 
nourishment.  The  labors  of  the  insects  are  also  delayed,  and 
the  quality  of  their  produce  injured,  by  the  weakness  of  con- 
stitution resulting  from  this  cause. 

Trees  in  dry  soils  give  fewer  leaves,  but  any  deficiency  in 
their  quantity  is  amply  compensated  by  the  greater  nutriment 
which  they  afford,  and,  as  a  necessary  consequence,  by  the 
superior  quality  of  the  silk  produced. 

It  is  remarked  by  Mayet,  that  the  quality  of  the  silk  de- 
pends upon  that  of  the  mulberry  leaves  consumed,  "  which 
are  then  to  be  considered  as  being  only  a  mine  worked  by 
the  worms ;  and  this  mine  is  more  or  less  proper  to  furnish 
the  fine  substance,  according  to  the  soil  and  climate." 

The  mulberry  tree  is  readily  raised,  either  by  cuttings,  by 
layers,  or  by  seed.  In  countries  where  the  seed  must  be 
saved  until  the  favorable  season  for  sowing  it  shall  come 
round,  the  process  is  both  troublesome  and  difficult.  Pullein, 
who  wrote  in  the  year  1758,  gives  very  elaborate  directions, 
which  he  considers  necessary  for  properly  saving  and  pre- 
paring the  seed.  In  climates  where  this  delay  in  sowing  is 
not  necessary,  the  operation  is  more  simple.  The  plan  pur- 
sued in  France  is  curious  :  it  is  thus  described : — "  Take  the 
ripe  berries  when  they  are  full  of  juice  and  seeds.  Next 
take  a  rough  horse-hair  line,  or  rope  such  as  we  dry  linen  on, 
and  with  a  good  handful  of  ripe  mulberries,  run  your  hand 
along  the  line,  bruising  the  berries  and  mashing  them  as 
much  as  possible  as  your  hand  runs  along,  so  that  the  pulp 
and  seed  of  the  berries  may  adhere  in  great  abundance  to  the 
rope  or  hair  line.  Next  dig  a  trench  in  the  ground  where 
you  wish  to  plant  them,  much  like  what  is  practised  in  kitchen 
gardens  in  England  for  crops  of  various  kinds.  Next  cut  the 
rope  or  hair  line  into  lengths,  according  to  the  length  of  the 
trench  you  think  fit  to  make,  and  plunge  the  line  full  of 
mashed  berries  into  the  trench ;  then  cover  it  well  over  with 


CHAP.  I.    CULTURE  OF  THE  MULBERRY  TREE.  8& 

earth,  always  remembering  afterwards  to  water  it  well, 
which  is  essential  to  success.  The  seeds  of  the  berries  thus 
sown  will  grow,  and  soon  shoot  out  suckers,  which  will  bear 
young  leaves,  which  are  the  best  food  for  the  silkworm.  The 
facility  and  rapidity  with  which  young  leaves  may  by  this 
means  be  produced,  is  evident ;  for  as  many  rows  of  trenches 
can  thus  be  filled  as  can  be  wished ;  and  it  can  never  be  ne- 
cessary to  have  mulberry  trees  higher  than  our  raspberry, 
currant,  or  gooseberry  bushes.  Whenever  they  get  beyond 
that,  they  lose  their  value ;  and  if  these  brandies  succeed, 
you  may  have  a  supply  coming  fresh  up  day  after  da^,  or  any 
quantity  you  please.1' 

Snails  and  slugs  are  found  to  be  very  destructive  to  the 
young  mulberry  shoots,  committing  great  devastations  in  a 
short  period.  In  moist  seasons,  a  whole  nursery  is  sometimes 
threatened  by  them  with  ruin.  To  protect  the  tender  plant 
from  this  evil,  it  is  recommended  to  surround  the  beds  or 
trenches  with  dry  soot  or  ashes,  sprinkling  it  afresh  after 
rain.  This  protection  might  be  advantageously  adopted  with 
other  plantations,  as  slugs  will  not  pass  over  such  a  fence,  es- 
pecially while  it  is  dry. 

In  England,  and  countries  of  similar  temperature,  seed- 
lings will  not  attain  a  greater  height  than  three  inches  in  the 
first  year.  In  wTarmer  climates  their  growth  is  much  more 
rapid ;  so  that  in  some  parts  of  India  large  quantities  of  seed 
sre  sown,  whose  crops  are  mowed  down  in  the  ensuing 
reason  as  food  for  silkworms.  Sprouts  again  spring  forth 
from  the  roots  the  same  year,  and  are  used  for  a  second  brood. 
The  silk  produced  by  worms  fed  on  these  tender  shoots  is 
supposed  to  be  readily  distinguishable,  by  its  superiority  over 
that  produced  when  the  insect  is  fed  on  the  leaf  of  the  full 
grown  mulberry  tree. 

Plants  which  are  raised  from  seed  require  transplantation 
at  the  end  of  the  third  year,  to  induce  the  spreading  of  the 
root.  Without  this  removal  they  would  acquire  only  one 
root,  like  a  pivot,  and  would  be  liable  to  various  casualties  on 
that  account.  Some  cultivators  believe  that  it  assists  this 
branching  out  of  roots,  if  the  plants  are  cut  even  with  the 
ground  at  the  end  of  the  second  year. 

The  most  easy  and  expeditious  way  of  raising  mulberry 
trees  is  from  cuttings.  Although  as  great  a  number  cannot 
so  readily  be  raised  in  this  manner  as  from  seed,  there  is  a 
great  advantage  in  point  of  strength  as  well  as  in  the  rapidity 
of  their  growth.  This  method  of  propagation  is  much  more 
successful  in  moist  and  temperate  climes  than  in  such  as  are 
H2 


90 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


exposed  to  the  arid  heat  of  the  lower  latitudes.  Cuttings 
will  put  forth  shoots  of  about  five  or  six  inches  in  length 
during  the  first  summer,  and  will,  at  the  same  time,  be  pro- 
viding themselves  with  roots.  If  they  have  put  forth  shoots, 
and  preserve  their  leaves  until  the  autumn,  the  plants  will 
generally  succeed :  any  which  have  failed  to  do  so  must  be 
replaced  by  other  cuttings.  In  the  course  of  the  ensuing 
spring  and  summer,  if  carefully  watered,  the  shoots  will 
frequently  attain  the  length  of  eighteen  inches.  In  the  au- 
tumn following  the  beds  must  be  thinned,  and  the  redundant 
saplings  planted  out. 

Mulberry  plantations  which  are  formed  in  France  and  Italy 
consist  of  large  standard  trees.  This  is  a  very  inconvenient 
method ;  as  the  leaves  cannot  be  gathered  but  by  the  aid  of 
ladders,  and  by  climbing  among  the  branches.  In  this  way 
the  trees  may  sustain  much  injury ;  besides  which  a  great 
deal  of  time  is  unnecessarily  wasted  in  reaching  the  leaves, 
which  then  are  seldom  gathered  with  regularity. 

Du  Halde,  in  his  history  of  China,  relates  that  the  Chinese 
are  particular  so  to  place  and  to  prune  their  mulberry  trees, 
that  the  leaves  may  be  gathered  in  the  easiest  manner,  and 
without  risk  of  damage  to  the  trees.  These  are,  with  this 
view,  cut  in  a  hollow  form,  without  any  intersecting  branches 
in  the  middle  ;  so  that  a  person  going  round  the  tree  may 
gather  all  the  outside  leaves,  and  afterwards,  by  standing 
withinside,  and  merely  turning  round  to  the  different  parts, 
may  pluck  the  leaves  growing  within.  The  trees  are  not 
allowed  to  grow  to  any  great  height ;  so  that  each  tree  forms 
a  sort  of  round  hedge,  and  may  be  reached  throughout  with- 
out climbing  on  its  branches. 

Pullein  gives  very  ample  directions  for  forming  and  rear- 
ing plantations  of  mulberry  trees.  His  work  has  been  con- 
sidered one  of  high  authority,  and  may  be  profitably  consults 
ed  by  any  who  require  more  minute  information  than  it  is, 
desirable  to  furnish  in  this  volume. 

Ingrafting  is  considered  to  be  one  of  the  surest  methods 
of  obtaining  nutritious  leaves  from  mulberry  trees.  Monsieur- 
Bourgeois  observes,  that  mulberries  ingrafted  on  wild  stocks, 
when  the  graft  is  chosen  from  a  good  kind,  such  as  the  rose-? 
leaved  or  the  Spanish  mulberry,  produce  leaves  which  are 
much  more  beautiful,  and  of  much  better  quality  for  feeding 
silkworms,  than  such  as  are  ingrafted  on  the  common  wild 
stock.  The  same  observation  has  been  made  by  Monsieur 
Thome,  whose  authority  is  of  the  greatest  weight  in  what- 


CHAP.  I.     CULTURE  OF  THE  MULBERRY  TREE.  91 

ever  relates  to  the  rearing  of  silkworms,  to  which  object  he 
devoted  forty  years  of  his  life. 

Although  ingrafted  mulberries  certainly  produce  a  greater 
number  of  leaves  than  the  wild  trees,  and  these  leaves  are 
thought  to  contain  more  nourishment  to  the  insect,  yet  the 
wild  tree  has  an  advantage  over  that  which  is  ingrafted,  in 
its  superior  longevity.  The  former  has  been  known  to  exist 
for  two  centuries;  while  the  increased  quantity  of  leaves 
produced  by  ingrafting  causes  a  premature  dissipation  of  the 
sap  of  the  tree,  and  accelerates  its  decay.  Monsieur  Pomier, 
in  a  treatise  which  he  has  written  upon  the  subject,  recom- 
mends that  white  should  be  ingrafted  on  black  mulberries ; 
and  the  reason  urged  for  the  adoption  of  this  plan  is,  that  the 
white  species  commonly  decays  first  in  the  root,  while  the 
black  is  not  subject  to  any  disease. 

The  more  attention  that  is  bestowed  upon  the  tree,  by 
dressing  and  pruning  the  overgrown  branches,  the  greater 
abundance  of  good  leaves  will  it  furnish.  It  is  very  hurtful 
to  the  trees  to  strip  them  when  too  young,  because  leaves  are 
organs  which  fulfil  important  functions  in  plants;  contrib- 
uting greatly  to  their  nutrition  by  absorbing  vessels,  which 
imbibe  moisture  from  the  air.  The  leaves  may  be  safely 
gathered  after  the  fifth  year.  Mulberry  trees  are  so  plen- 
teously  stored  with  sap,  that  they  sometimes  renew  their 
leaves  twice  or  thrice  in  the  same  year.  When  the  winter 
has  been  mild,  they  put  forth  leaves  very  early ;  but  it  is  al- 
ways dangerous,  in  any  but  hot  climates,  to  accelerate  the 
hatching  of  the  worms  in  expectation  of  this  event ;  for  no 
leaves  should  be  depended  on  till  the  beginning  of  May,  as 
those  which  appear  prior  to  this  period  are  exposed  to  destruc- 
tion from  frost. 

According  to  Monsieur  Nollet,  the  inhabitants  of  Tuscany, 
especially  in  the  neighborhood  of  Florence,  do  not  cultivate 
half  as  many  mulberry  trees  as  the  Piedmontese,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  silkworms  reared  and  the  quantity  of 
silk  produced.  This  economy  is  realized  by  causing  the 
worms  to  be  hatched  at  two  separate  periods.  The  first 
"brood  is  fed  on  the  first  leaves  of  the  spring;  and  when 
these  worms  have  gone  through  their  progressions,  and  have 
produced  silk,  other  eggs  are  hatched,  and  the  insects  are 
nourished  by  a  second  crop  of  leaves  furnished  by  the  same 
trees.  This  plan  is  followed  in  China,  where  two  crops  of 
silk  are  obtained  in  the  year ;  and  it  has  been  said  that  in 
some  other  parts  of  Asia  as  many  as  twelve  broods  of  worms 
are  reared  in  the  course  of  one  year.    In  the  Isle  of  Franc© 


Q2 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


Monsieur  Chazal  obtained  three  generations  between  the 
months  of  December  and  May ;  the  mulberry  tree  there,  as 
well  as  in  India,  affording  fresh  leaves  through  the  whole 
year. 

Count  Dandolo  is  of  opinion  that  in  Italy  it  is  disadvantage- 
ous to  obtain  more  than  one  crop  in  each  season.  He  affirms 
that  the  mulberry  tree  cannot  bear  this  constant  stripping  of 
its  leaves  without  injury.  "  All  things  considered,"  says  he, 
"I  am  well  persuaded  that  one  of  our  good  crops  will  be 
equal  in  produce  to  any  number  that  may  be  gathered  else- 
where in  a  year."  It  is  observed  that  the  quality  of  the  silk 
obtained  in  Italy  from  their  second  racolta  is  always  inferior 
to  that  from  the  first  brood  of  worms. 

The  Persian  cultivators  are  accustomed,  from  a  motive  of 
economy,  to  feed  silkworms  upon  boughs  of  the  mulberry 
tree,  instead  of  using  the  leaf  separately,  as  is  practised  in 
all  temperate  climates.  The  leaves,  continuing  attached  to 
the  branches,  remain  longer  fresh,  have  a  better  flavor,  and 
are  more  nutritious,  than  those  separately  gathered,  and  the 
silkworms  feed  from  the  branches  with  less  waste  than  when 
the  leaves  are  strewn  singly  over  them. 

In  estimating  the  qualities  of  the  mulberry  leaf,  as  regards 
nutrition,  it  should  be  considered  as  being  composed  of  five 
different  substances.  The  solid  or  fibrous,  the  saccharine, 
and  the  resinous  substances,  water,  and  coloring  matter. 

The  fibrous  substance,  water,  and  coloring  matter,  cannot 
be  said  to  contribute  towards  the  nourishment  of  the  silk- 
worm. The  saccharine  matter  is  that  which  sustains  the  in- 
sect, causes  its  increase  in  size,  and  goes  to  the  formation  of 
its  animal  substance.  The  resinous  substance,  according  to 
count  Dandolo,  is  that  which,  "  separating  itself  gradually 
from  the  leaf,  and  attracted  by  the  animal  organization,  ac- 
cumulates, clears  itself,  and  insensibly  fills  the  two  reservoirs 
or  silk  vessels.  According  to  the  different  proportions  of  the 
elements  which  compose  the  leaf,  it  follows,  that  cases  may 
occur  in  which  a  greater  weight  of  leaf  may  yield  less  that 
is  useful  to  the  silkworm,  as  well  for  its  nourishment,  as 
with  respect  to  the  quantity  of  silk  obtained  from  the  animal." 

To  complete  the  development  of  the  silkworm,  the  quan- 
tity of  leaves  consumed  must  bear  relation  to  the  nutriment 
they  contain.  It  is  therefore  important,  that  leaves  contain- 
ing the  most  nutriment  should  be  supplied  to  the  insect,  as  it 
is  more  fatigued  and  more  liable  to  disease  from  devouring 
many  leaves,  than  it  would  be  if  an  equal  quantity  of  nour- 
ishment were  supplied  by  fewer  leaves  containing  more  sac- 


CHAP.  1>     CULTURE  OF  THE  MULBERRY  TREE.  93 

charine  substance.  Again,  if  this  abounds  in  the  leaf,  and 
the  resinous  substance  is  not  found  united  with  it  in  sufficient 
quantity,  the  worm  will,  it  is  true,  thrive  and  grow,  but  will 
not  produce  silk  proportionate  to  its  weight. 

In  some  parts  of  Italy  and  France,  mulberry  leaves  are 
commonly  sold  by  weight  in  the  market,  and  those  persons 
who  rear  silkworms  are  often  wholly  dependent  on  this  source 
for  a  supply.  Judgment  and  experience  are  required  in  the 
purchaser,  to  enable  him  to  make  a  proper  selection  of  leaves, 
choosing  such  as  are  of  a  nourishing  quality,  and  rejecting 
those  whose  sale  would,  from  their  greater  weight,  be  more 
profitable  to  the  vender.  The  interests  of  the  two  parties 
are  consequently  at  variance.  In  other  places,  trees  are 
hired  for  the  season ;  from  four  to  six  francs,  according  to  its 
size  and  condition,  being  paid  for  the  hire  of  each  tree.  Un- 
der equal  circumstances,  an  old  mulberry  tree  always  yields 
better  leaves  than  a  young  one ;  and  whatever  may  be  the 
original  quality  of  the  tree,  as  it  grows  older  the  leaf  will 
diminish  in  size,  and  will  so  materially  improve,  that  at  length 
it  will  attain  to  a  very  excellent  quality. 

It  is  of  importance  that  the  age  of  the  leaves  should  keep 
pace  with  that  of  the  worms.  The  young  leaf,  being  replete 
with  aqueous  matter,  provides  for  the  great  evaporation  con- 
tinually proceeding  from  the  body  of  the  young  worm;  while 
the  mature  leaf  contains  a  larger  proportion  of  solid  nutritive 
matter,  better  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  insect  at  its  more 
advanced  age.  To  give  old  leaves  to  young  worms,  or  young 
leaves  to  old  worms,  would  be  alike  prejudicial. 

The  greatest  care  must  be  taken  to  prevent  the  leaves  be- 
coming heated  or  fermented.  The  nutritious  substance  of 
the  leaf  is  altered  and  injured  by  the  slightest  fermentation, 
and  it  becomes  too  stimulating  for  the  health  of  the  worm. 
It  is  also  essential  that  the  leaves  be  given  to  the  insects 
perfectly  dry;  contagious  and  fatal  diseases  will  otherwise 
ensue. 

It  is  considered  that  a  well-cultivated  mulberry  tree  should 
yield,  in  each  season,  about  thirty  pounds  of  good  leaves.  It 
is  not  uncommon  in  the  south  of  France  to  see  large  trees 
which  will  furnish  five  times  this  quantity. 

It  is  said  that  no  insect  excepting  the  silkworm  will  feed 
on  the  mulberry  leaf.  Pullein  tried  the  speckled  hairy  cater- 
pillar, which  feeds  on  the  nettle,  as  well  as  several  other 
kinds  of  insects,  but  they  all  rejected  the  mulberry  leaf  for 
their  food.  Once,  indeed,  he  discovered  upon  a  mulberry 
tree  a  green  worm,  about  an  inch  long,  and  as  thick  as  an 


£4  SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  II* 

oat  straw.  He  confined  it  in  a  box,  and  fed  his  prisoner  with 
mulberry  leaves.  Pullein  believes  that  it  was  not  a  native 
of  the  tree,  but  found  itself  there  accidentally  when  it  was 
taken.  During  the  continued  observation  of  three  years, 
Miss  Rhodes  never  once  found  an  insect  upon  the  leaves 
used  by  her.  Other  fruit  trees  and  vegetables  in  the  same 
garden  were  sometimes  covered  by  myriads  of  insects, 
while  the  mulberry  tree,  surrounded  by  these  ravagers,  re- 
mained sacred  from  their  depredations.  Not  even  the 
aphides  invade  this  tree,  exclusively  devoted  to  the  use  of 
the  silkworm. 


CHAP.  II. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  SILKWORM. 

Various  Changes  of  the  Worm. — Its  small  desire  of  locomotion. — Manner 
of  casting  its  Exuviae. — Sometimes  cannot  be  fully  accomplished. — Con- 
sequent Death  of  the  Insect. — Progress  of  its  Existence. — Material  of 
which  its  Silk  is  formed.— Mode  of  its  Secretion. — Manner  of  Spinning. 
— Floss  Silk. — The  Cocoon. — Its  Imperviousness  to  Moisture. — Transfor- 
mation of  a  Worm  into  a  Chrysalis. — Periods  in  which  its  various  Pro- 
gressions are  effected  in  different  Climates. — Effects  of  Increased  Temper- 
ature.— Modes  of  Artificial  Heating. — Coming  forth  of  the  Moth. — Man- 
ner of  its  Extrication. — Increase  in  Weight  and  Bulk  of  the  Silkworm. 
— Number  of  Eggs  produced. — Length,  etc.  at  different  Ages. — Silk- 
worms injuriously  affected  by  Change  of  Climate.— Varieties  of  Silk- 
worms.—Small  Worms. — Large  Species. — Produce  yielded  by  these. 

The  silkworm,  or  bombyx,  is  a  species  of  caterpillar 
which,  like  all  other  insects  of  the  same  class,  undergoes  a 
variety  of  changes  during  the  short  period  of  its  life  ;  as- 
suming, in  each  of  three  successive  transformations,  a  form 
wholly  dissimilar  to  that  with  which  it  was  previously  in- 
vested. 

Among  the  great  variety  of  caterpillars,  the  descriptions 
of  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  records  of  natural  history, 
the  silkworm  occupies  a  place  far  above  the  rest.  Not  only 
is  our  attention  called  to  the  examination  of  its  various 
transformations,  by  the  desire  of  satisfying  our  curiosity  as 
entomologists,  but  our  artificial  wants  incite  us  likewise  to 
the  study  of  its  nature  and  habits,  that  we  may  best  and 
most  profitably  apply  its  instinctive  industry  to  our  own  ad- 
vantage. 

It  has  been  well  observed  by  a  writer  on  this  subject,  that 
"there  is  scarcely  any  thing  among  the  various  wonders 


CUAI\  II. 


THE  SILKWOliM. 


05 


which  the  animal  creation  affords,  more  admirable  than  the 
variety  of  changes  which  the  silkworm  undergoes ;  but  the 
curious  texture  of  that  silken  covering  with  which  it  sur- 
rounds itself  when  it  arrives  at  the  perfection  of  its  animal 
life,  vastly  surpasses  what  is  made  by  other  animals  of  this 
class.  All  the  caterpillar  kind  do,  indeed,  undergo  changes 
like  those  of  the  silkworm,  and  the  beauty  of  many  of  them 
in  their  butterfly  state  greatly  exceeds  it ;  but  the  covering 
which  they  put  on  before  this  change  into  a  fly  is  poor  and 
mean,  when  compared  to  that  golden  tissue  in  which  the 
silkworm  wraps  itself.  They,  indeed,  come  forth  in  a  va- 
riety of  colors,  their  wings  bedropped  with  gold  and  scarlet, 
yet  are  they  but  the  beings  of  a  summer's  day ;  both  their 
life  and  beauty  quickly  vanish,  and  they  leave  no  remem- 
brance after  them ;  but  the  silkworm  leaves  behind  it  such 
beautiful,  such  beneficial  monuments,  as  at  once  record  both 
the  wisdom  of  their  Creator  and  his  bounty  to  man."* 

Silkworms  proceed  from  eggs  which  are  deposited  during 
the  summer  by  a  grayish  kind  of  moth,  of  the  genus  phalsense. 
These  eggs  are  about  equal  in  size  to  a  grain  of  mustard- 
seed  :  their  color  when  first  laid  is  yellow ;  but  in  three  or 
four  days  after,  they  acquire  a  bluish  cast.  In  temperate  cli- 
mates, and  by  using  proper  precautions,  these  eggs  may  be 
preserved  during  the  winter  and  spring,  without  risk  of  pre-! 
mature  hatching.  The  period  of  their  animation  may  be  ac^ 
celerated  or  retarded  by  artificial  means,  so  as  to  agree  with 
the  time  when  the  natural  food  of  the  insect  shall  appear  in 
sufficient  abundance  for  its  support. 

The  whole  of  the  curious  changes  and  labors  which  ac-r 
company  and  characterize  the  life  of  the  silkworm  are  per- 
formed within  the  space  of  a  very  few  weeks.  This  period 
varies,  indeed,  according  to  the  climate  or  temperature  in 
which  its  life  is  passed  ;  all  its  vital  functions  being  quicken- 
ed, and  their  duration  proportionally  abridged,  by  warmth. 
With  this  sole  variance,  its  progressions  are  alike  in  all  cli? 
mates,  and  the  same  mutations  accompany  its  course. 

The  three  successive  states  of  being  put  on  by  this  insect 
are,  that  of  the  worm  or  caterpillar,  that  of  the  chrysalis  or 
aurelia,  and  that  of  the  moth.  In  addition  to  these  more 
decided  transformations,  the  progress  of  the  silkworm  in  its 
caterpillar  state  is  marked  by  five  distinct  stages  of  being. 

When  first  hatched,  it  appears  as  a  small  black  worm, 
pibout  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  length.    Its  first  indication  of 


*  Pullein. 


96 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II 


animation  is  the  desire  which  it  evinces  for  obtaining  food, 
in  search  of  which,  if  not  immediately  supplied,  it  will  ex- 
hibit more  power  of  locomotion  than  characterizes  it  at  any 
other  period.  So  small  is  the  desire  of  change  on  the  part 
of  these  insects,  that  of  the  generality  it  may  be  said,  their 
own  spontaneous  will  seldom  leads  them  to  travel  over  a 
greater  space  than  three  feet  throughout  the  whole  duration 
of  their  lives.  Even  when  hungry,  the  worm  still  clings  to 
the  skeleton  of  the  leaf  from  which  its  nourishment  was  last 
derived.  If,  by  the  continued  cravings  of  its  appetite,  it 
should  be  at  length  incited  to  the  effort  necessary  for  chang- 
ing its  position,  it  will  sometimes  wander  as  far  as  the  edge 
of  the  tray  wherein  it  is  confined,  and  some  few  have  been 
found  sufficiently  adventurous  to  cling  to  its  rim;  but  the 
smell  of  fresh  leaves  will  instantly  allure  them  back.  It 
would  add  incalculably  to  the  labors  and  cares  of  their  at- 
tendants, if  silkworms  were  endowed  with  a  more  rambling 
disposition.  So  useful  is  this  peculiarity  of  their  nature,  that 
one  is  irresistibly  tempted  to  consider  it  the  result  of  design, 
and  a  part  of  that  beautiful  system  of  the  fitness  of  things, 
which  the  student  of  natural  history  has  so  many  opportu- 
nities of  contemplating  with  delight  and  admiration. 

In  about  eight  days  from  its  being  hatched,  its  head  be- 
comes perceptibly  larger,  and  the  worm  is  attacked  by  its 
first  sickness.  This  lasts  for  three  days ;  during  which  time 
it  refuses  food,  and  remains  motionless  in  a  kind  of  lethargy- 
Some  have  thought  this  to  be  sleep,  but  the  fatal  termination 
which  so  frequently  attends  these  sicknesses  seems  to  afford 
a  denial  to  this  supposition.  The  silkworm  increases  its  size 
so  considerably,  and  in  so  short  a  space  of  time, — its  weight 
being  multiplied  many  thousand  fold  in  the  course  of  one 
month, — that  if  only  one  skin  had  been  assigned  to  it,  which? 
should  serve  for  its  whole  caterpillar  state,  this  skin  would 
with  difficulty  have  distended  itself  sufficiently  to  keep  pace 
with  the  insect's  growth.  The  economy  of  nature  has  there- 
fore admirably  provided  the  embryos  of  other  skins,  destined 
to  be  successively  called  into  use  ;  and  this  sickness  of  the 
worm,  and  its  disinclination  for  food,  may  very  probably  be 
occasioned  by  the  pressure  of  the  skin,  now  become  too  small 
for  the  body  which  it  encases. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  day  from  its  first  refusal  of  food, 
the  animal  appears,  on  that  account,  much  wasted  in  its 
bodily  frame ;  a  circumstance  which  materially  assists  in  the 
painful  operation  of  casting  its  skin  :  this  it  now  proceeds  to  " 
accomplish.    To  facilitate  this  moulting,  a  sort  of  humor  is 


CHAP.  II. 


THE  SILKWORM. 


97 


thrown  off  by  the  worm,  which,  spreading  between  its  body 
and  the  skin  about  to  be  abandoned,  lubricates  their  surfaces, 
and  causes  them  to  separate  more  readily.  The  insect  also 
emits  from  its  body  silken  traces,  which,  adhering  to  the  spot 
on  which  it  rests,  serve  to  confine  the  skin  to  its  then  exist- 
ing position.  These  preliminary  steps  seem  to  call  for  some 
considerable  exertion,  as  after  them  the  worm  remains  quiet 
for  a  short  space,  to  recover  from  its  fatigue.  It  then  pro- 
ceeds, by  rubbing  its  head  among  the  leafy  fibres  surrounding 
it,  to  disencumber  itself  of  the  scaly  covering.  Its  next  ef- 
fort is  to  break  through  the  skin  nearest  to  the  head,  which, 
as  it  is  there  the  smallest,  calls  for  the  greatest  exertion ; 
and  no  sooner  is  this  accomplished  and  the  two  front  legs  are 
disengaged,  than  the  remainder  of  the  body  is  quickly  drawn 
forth,  the  skin  remaining  fastened  to  the  spot  in  the  manner 
already  described. 

This  moulting  is  so  complete,  that  not  only  is  the  whole 
covering  of  the  body  cast  off,  but  that  of  the  feet,  of  the  en- 
tire skull,  and  even  the  jaws,  including  the  teeth.  These 
several  parts  may  be  discerned  by  the  unassisted  eye,  but  be- 
come very  apparent  when  viewed  through  a  magnifying  lens 
of  moderate  power. 

In  two  or  three  minutes  from  the  beginning  of  its  efforts 
the  worm  is  wholly  freed,  and  again  puts  on  the  appearance 
of  health  and  vigor,  feeding  with  recruited  appetite  upon  its 
leafy  banquet.  It  sometimes  happens  that  the  outer  skin  re- 
fuses to  detach  itself  wholly,  but  breaks  and  leaves  an  annu- 
lar portion  adhering  to  the  extremity  of  its  body,  from  which 
all  the  struggles  of  the  insect  cannot  wholly  disengage  it. 
The  pressure  thus  occasioned  induces  swelling  and  inflamma- 
tion in  other  parts  of  the  body,  and,  after  efforts  of  greater  or 
less  duration,  death  generally  terminates  its  sufferings. 

Worms  newly  freed  from  their  exuviae  are  easily  distin- 
guished from  others  by  the  pale  color  and  wrinkled  appear- 
ance of  their  new  skin.  This  latter  quality,  however,  soon 
disappears,  through  the  repletion  and  growth  of  the  insect, 
which  continues  to  feed  during  five  days.  At  this  time  its 
length  will  be  increased  to  half  an  inch  ;  when  it  is  attacked 
by  a  second  sickness,  followed  by  a  second  moulting,  the 
manner  of  performing  which  is  exactly  similar  to  that  already 
described.  Its  appetite  then  again  returns,  and  is  indulged 
during  other  five  days,  during  which  time  its  length  in- 
creases to  three  quarters  of  an  inch :  it  then  undergoes  its 
third  sickness  and  moulting.  These  being  past,  in  all  re- 
•pects  like  the  former,  and  five  more  days  of  feeding  having 


08 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  it 


followed,  it  is  seized  by  its  fourth  sickness,  and  casts  its  skin 
for  the  last  time  in  the  caterpillar  state.  The  worm  is  now 
about  one  and  a  half  or  two  inches  long.  This  last  change 
completed,  the  silkworm  devours  its  food  most  voraciously, 
and  increases  rapidly  in  size  during  ten  days. 

The  silkworm  has  now  attained  to  its  full  growth,  and  is  a 
slender  caterpillar  from  two  and  a  half  to  three  inches  in 
length.  The  peculiarities  of  its  structure  may  be  better  ex- 
amined now  than  in  its  earlier  stages.  It  can  readily  be 
seen*  that  the  worm  has  twelve  membranous  rings  round  its 
iody,  parallel  to  each  other,  and  which,  answering  to  the 
movements  of  the  animal,  mutually  contract  and  elongate. 
It  has  sixteen  legs,  in  pairs  :  six  in  front,  which  are  covered 
with  a  sort  of  shell  or  scale,  are  placed  under  the  three  first 


Fig.  1. 


rings,  and  cannot  be  either  sensibly  lengthened,  or  their  po- 
sition altered.  The  other  ten  legs  are  called  holders  :  these 
are  membranous,  flexible,  and  attached  to  the  body  under  the 
rings.  These  holders  are  furnished  with  little  hooks,  which 
assist  the  insect  in  climbing.  The  skull  is  inclosed  in  a  scaly 
substance,  similar  to  the  covering  of  the  first  six  legs.  The 
jaws  are  indented  or  serrated  like  the  teeth  of  a  saw,  and 
their  strength  is  great  considering  the  size  of  the  insect.  Its 
mouth  is  peculiar,  having  a  vertical  instead  of  a  horizontal 
aperture ;  and  the  worm  is  furnished  with  eighteen  breathing 
holes,  placed  at  equal  distances  down  the  body,  nine  on  each 
side.    Each  of  these  holes  is  supposeCrto  be  the  termination 


*  The  scale  on  which  the  worms,  cocoons,  chrysalis,  and  moths  are  repre- 
sented, is  two  thirds  their  usual  natural  size. 


chap.  ir. 


THE  SILKWORM. 


99 


of  a  particular  organ  of  respiration.  On  each  side  of  the 
head,  near  to  the  mouth,  seven  small  eyes  may  be  discerned. 
The  two  broad  appearances  higher  upon  the  head,  which  are 
frequently  mistaken  for  eyes,  are  bones  of  the  skull.  The 
two  apertures  through  which  the  worm  draws  its  silky  sub- 
stance are  placed  just  beneath  the  jaw,  and  close  to  each 
other.    These  orifices  are  exceedingly  minute. 

At  the  period  above-mentioned  the  desire  of  the  worm  for 
food  begins  to  abate  :  the  first  symptom  of  this  is  the  appear- 
ance of  the  leaves  nibbled  into  minute  portions,  and  wasted. 
It  soon  after  this  entirely  ceases  even  to  touch  the  mulberry 
leaves ;  appears  restless  and  uneasy ;  erects  its  head  ;  and 
moves  about  from  side  to  side,  with  a  circular  motion,  in 
quest  of  a  place  wherein  it  can  commence  its  labor  of  spin- 
ning. Its  color  is  now  light  green,  with  some  mixture  of  a 
darker  hue.  In  twenty-four  hours  from  the  time  of  its  ab- 
staining from  food,  the  material  for  forming  its  silk  will  be 
digested  in  its  reservoirs  ;  its  green  color  will  disappear  ;  its 
body  will  have  acquired  a  degree  of  glossiness,  and  will 
have  become  somewhat  transparent  towards  its  neck.  Before 
the  worm  is  quite  prepared  to  spin,  its  body  will  have  ac- 
quired greater  firmness,  and  be  somewhat  lessened  in  size. 

The  substance  of  which  the  silk  is  composed  is  secreted  in 
the  form  of  a  fine  yellow  transparent  gum  in  two  separate 
vessels  of  slender  dimensions,  which  are  wound*  as  it  were, 
on  two  spindles  in  the  stomach  :  if  unfolded,  these  vessels 
would  be  about  ten  inches  in  length. 

When  the  worm  has  fixed  upon  some  angle,  or  hollow 
place,  whose  dimensions  agree  with  the  size  of  its  intended 
silken  ball  or  cocoon,  it  begins  its  labor  by  spinning  thin  and 
irregular  threads,  which  are  intended  to  support  its  future 
dwelling.  During  the  first  day,  the  insect  forms  upon  these 
a  loose  structure  of  an  oval  shape,  which  is  called  floss  silk, 
and  within  which  covering,  in  the  three  following  days,  it 
forms  the  firm  and  consistent  yellow  ball ;  the  laborer,  of 
course,  always  remaining  on  the  inside  of  the  sphere  which 
it  is  forming.* 

The  silky  material,  which  when  drawn  out  appears  to  be 
one  thread,  is  composed  of  two  fibres,  extracted  through  the 
two  orifices  before  described ;  and  these  fibres  are  brought 
together  by  means  of  two  hooks,  placed  within  the  silkworm's 
mouth  for  the  purpo^§.  The  worm  in  spinning  rests  on  its 
lower  extremity  throughout  the  operation,  and  employs  its 


*  Note  V, 


100 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


mouth  and  front  legs  in  the  task  of  directing  and  fastening 
the  thread.  The  filament  is  not  spun  in  regular  concentric 
circles  round  the  interior  surface  of  the  ball,  but  in  spots, 
going  backwards  and  forwards  with  a  sort  of  wavy  motion. 
This  apparently  irregular  manner  of  proceeding  is  plainly 
perceptible  when  the  silk  is  wound  off  the  ball,  which  does 
not  make  more  than  one  or  two  entire  revolutions  while  ten 
or  twelve  yards  of  silk  are  being  transferred  to  the  reel. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  or  fourth  day  the  worm  will  have 
completed  its  task,  and  formed  its  cocoon.  This  has  been 
compared  in  shape  and  size  to  a  pigeon's  egg.  It  is  seldom, 
however,  that  the  ball  attains  to  so  great  a  size.  In  the  fol- 
lowing representation  the  cocoons  are  drawm  two  thirds  of 
the  usual  size,  and  are  shown  with  part  of  the  outward  or 
floss  silk  removed. 


When  the  insect  has  finished  its  labor  of  spinning,  it 
smears  the  entire  internal  surface  of  the  cocoon  with  a  pe- 
culiar kind  of  gum,  very  similar  in  its  nature  to  the  matter 
which  forms  the  silk  itself ;  and  this  is  no  doubt  designed  as 
a  shield  against  rain  for  the  chrysalis  in  its  natural  state, 
when  of  course  it  would  be  subject  to  all  varieties  of  weather. 
The  silken  filament  of  which  the  ball  is  made  up  is  likewise 
accompanied,  throughout  its  entire  length,  by  a  portion  of 
gum,  which  serves  to  give  firmness  and  consistency  to-  its 
texture,  and  assists  in  rendering  the  dwelling  of  the  chrysa- 
lis impervious  to  moisture.  This  office  it  performs  so  well, 
that  when,  for  the  purpose  of  reeling  the  silk  with  greater 
facility,  the  balls  are  thrown  into  basins  of  hot  water,  they 
swim  on  the  top  with  all  the  buoyancy  of  bladders ;  nor,  un- 
less the  ball  be  imperfectly  formed,  does  the -water  penetrate 
within  until  the  silk  is  nearly  all  unwound. 

The  continual  emission  of  the  silken  .material  during  the 
formation  of  its  envelope,  together  with  its  natural  evapora- 
tion, uncompensated  by  food,  causes  the  worm  gradually  to 
contract  in  bulk ;  it  becomes  wrinkled,  and  the  rings  of  ita 


Fig.  2. 


CHAP.  II. 


THE  SILKWORM. 


101 


body  approach  nearer  to  each  other  and  appear  more  de- 
cidedly marked.  When  the  formation  of  the  ball  is  finished, 
the  insect  rests  awhile  from  its  toil,  and  then  throws  oft"  its 
caterpillar  garb.  If  the  cocoon  be  now  opened,  its  inhabit- 
ant will  appear  in  the  form  of  a  chrysalis  or  aurelia,  in  shape 
Fig.  3.  somewhat  resembling  a  kidney  bean,  but 
^mmm—^  pointed  at  one  end,  having  a  smooth  brown 
Sb^Tl'ISB^  skin-  Its  former  covering,  so  dissimilar  to  the 
^^^$$$0^0^  one  now  assumed,  will  be  found  lying  beside  it. 

The  account  which  has  been  given  of  the  progressions  of 
the  silkworm  shows  that,  in  its  various  modifications,  the  ani- 
mal organization  of  the  insect  has  been  always  tending  to- 
wards its  simplification.  Count  Dandolo,  writing  upon  this 
subject,  observes,  "  Thus  the  caterpillar  is  in  the  first  instance 
composed  of  animal,  silky,  and  excremental  particles;  this 
forms  the  state  of  the  growing  caterpillar :  in  the  next  stage 
it  is  composed  of  animal  and  silky  particles ;  it  is  then  the 
mature  caterpillar:  and  lastly,  it  is  reduced  to  the  animal 
particles  alone ;  and  is  termed  in  this  state  the  chrysalis." 

In  the  foregoing  description,  definite  periods  have  been  as- 
signed to  each  age  of  the  silkworm,  in  agreement  with  the 
fact  as  most  generally  experienced  in  the  temperate  climates 
of  Europe.  It  has  already  Been  noticed  that  the  progressions 
of  the  insects  are  accelerated  by  an  increase  of  temperature ; 
and  some  variation  will  equally  be  experienced  where  differ- 
ent modes  of  treatment  are  followed,  and,  in  particular,  where 
different  periods  of  the  year  are  chosen  in  which  to  produce 
and  rear  the  worm.  Malpighius,  in  his  "Anatomy  of  the 
Silkworm,"  says,  that  worms  which  he  hatched  in  May  were 
eleven  days  old  ere  they  were  attacked  by  their  first  sick- 
ness ;  others  hatched  in  July  were  ten  days,  and  those 
brought  forth  in  August  nine  days,  before  they  refused  their 
food,  preparatory  to  their  first  moulting.  Eight  days  appear 
to  be  the  most  usual  term  for  their  first  attack ;  and  by  his 
judicious  treatment  count  Dandolo  shortened  even  this  term 
by  two  days.  In  Europe,  except  where  recourse  is  had  to 
artificial  aid,  the  term  of  the  insect's  caterpillar  state  is 
usually  that  which  has  been  already  mentioned. 

Dr.  Anderson  informs  us,  that  in  Madras  the  silkworm 
goes  through  its  whole  evolutions  in  the  short  space  of 
twenty-two  days.  It  appears,  however,  that  the  saving  of 
time,  and  consequently  of  labor,  is  the  only  economy  result- 
ing from  the  acceleration  ;  as  the  insects  consume  as  much 
food  during  their  shorter  period  of  life,  as  is  assigned  to  the 
longer-lived  silkworms  of  Europe. 

12 


102 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


Sudden  transitions  from  cold  to  heat,  or  from  heat  to  cold, 
are  highly  injurious  to  the  silkworm ;  but  it  can  bear  a  very- 
high  degree  of  heat,  if  uniformly  maintained,  without  sus- 
taining injury.  Count  Dandolo  observed,  that  "  the  greater 
the  degree  of  heat  in  which  it  is  reared,  the  more  acute  are 
its  wants,  the  more  rapid  its  pleasures,  and  the  shorter  its  ex- 
istence." Monsieur  Boissier  de  Sauvagues  made  many  ex- 
periments on  this  point.  One  year,  when  by  the  early  ap- 
pearance of  the  mulberry  leaves,  which  were  developed  by 
the  end  of  April,  he  was  forced  to  hurry  forward  the  opera- 
tions of  his  filature,  he  raised  the  heat  of  the  apartment  in 
which  the  newly-hatched  worms  were  placed  to  100° ;  grad- 
ually diminishing  this  during  their  first  and  second  ages  to 
95°.  In  consequence  of  the  animal  excitement  thus  induced, 
there  elapsed  only  nine  days  between  the  hatching  and  the 
second  moulting  inclusively.  It  was  the  general  opinion  of 
those  cultivators  who  witnessed  the  experiment,  that  the  in- 
sects would  not  be  able  to  exist  in  so  intensely  heated  an  at- 
mosphere. The  walls  of  the  apartment,  and  the  wTicker  hur- 
dles on  which  the  worms  were  placed,  could  scarcely  be 
touched  without  inconvenience,  and  yet  all  the  changes  and 
progressions  went  forward  perfectly  well,  and  a  most  abun- 
dant crop  of  silk  was  the  result. 

The  same  gentleman,  on  a  subsequent  occasion,  exposed 
his  brood  to  the  temperature  of  93°  to  95°  during  their  first 
age ;  of  89°  to  91°  in  the  second  age ;  and  remarked  that 
the  attendant  circumstances  were  the  same  as  in  his  former 
experiment,  the  changes  of  the  worm  being  performed  in  the 
same  space  of  time ;  whence  he  came  to  the  conclusion,  that 
it  is  not  practicable  to  accelerate  their  progress  beyond  a 
certain  point  by  any  superadd itions  of  heat.  In  both  these 
experiments  the  quantity  of  food  consumed  was  as  great  as 
is  usually  given  during  the  longer  period  employed  in  the  com- 
mon manner  of  rearing.  AfleY  the  second  moulting  had 
taken  place  in  the  last  experiment,  the  temperature  was 
lowered  to  82° ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  worms  occu- 
pied only  five  days  in  completing  their  third  and  fourth 
changes,  although  others  which  had  been  accustomed  to  this 
lower  degree  from  their  birth  occupied  seven  or  eight  days 
for  each  of  these  moultings.  It  would  therefore  seem  that 
the  constitution  of  the  insects  can  be  affected,  and  an  impetus 
given  to  their  functions  at  the  period  of  their  first  animation, 
which  accompanies  them  through  their  after  stages.  So  far 
from  this  forcing  system  proving  injurious  to  the  health  of 
silkworms,  M.  de  Sauvagues  found  that  his  broods  were  un- 


CHAP.  II.  THE  SILKWOBM.  105 

usually  healthy ;  and  that  while  the  labors  of  cultivation 
were  abridged  in  their  duration,  much  of  the  attendant  anx- 
iety wTas  removed. 

Like  other  caterpillars,  the  silkworm  is  not  a  warm-blooded 
animal,  and  its  temperature  is  thereibre  alwaj  s  equal  to  that 
of  the  atmosphere  in  which  it  is  placed.  In  the  silk-pro- 
ducing countries,  where  modes  of  artificial  heating  have  not 
been  studied  practically  and  scientifically,  as  they  have  of 
late  in  England,  the  difficulty  and  expense  that  must  attend 
the  prosecution  of  this  heating  system  form  abundant  reasons 
why  it  cannot  be  generally  adopted.  The  great  susceptibility 
of  the  insect  to  atmospheric  influences  would  also  in  a  great 
degree  render  unsuitable  the  more  common  arrangements  for 
the  purpose.  The  plan  of  warming  apartments  by  means 
of  stoves,  in  its  passage  through  which  the  air  becomes  high- 
ly heated  before  it  mixes  with  and  raises  the  general  temper- 
ature of  the  air  in  the  chamber,  is  liable  to  this  inconvenience, 
— that  the  portion  so  introduced,  having  its  vital  property 
impaired  by  the  burning  heat  through  which  it  has  passed, 
injures,  proportionally,  the  respirable  quality  of  the  whole 
atmosphere ;  an  effect  which  is  easily  perceptible  by  those 
who  breathe  it.  A  better  plan  of  heating  has  lately  been 
suggested,  and  is  coming  fast  into  practice,  of  warming 
buildings  by  means  of  a  current  of  hot  water,  which  is,  by 
very  simple  means,  kept  constantly  flowing  in  close  channels 
through  the  apartment,  where  it  continually  gives  off  its 
heat  by  radiation  ;  and  the  degree  of  this  being  far  below  the 
point  which  is  injurious  to  the  vita]  quality  of  ah%  the  evil 
before  alluded  to  is  avoided.  If  the  expense  of  fuel  be  not 
too  great,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  labor  which  would 
be  saved  by  this  means,  the  adoption  in  silk  countries  of  such 
a  mode  of  raising  and  regulating  the  temperature  might, 
probably,  prove  advantageous. 

The  silkworm  remains  in  the  form  of  a  chrysalis  for  periods 
which,  according  to  the  climate  or  the  temperature  wherein 
it  may  be  placed,  vary  from  fifteen  to  thirty  days.  In  India, 
the  time  is  only  eleven  days.  In  Spain  and  Italy,  eighteen 
to  twenty  days.  In  France,  three  weeks ;  and  in  the  climate 
of  England,  when  unaccelerated  by  artificial  means,  thirty 
days  will  elapse  from  the  time  the  insect  began  to  spin  until 
it  emerges  in  its  last  and  perfect  form.  It  then  throws  off 
the  shroud  which  had  confined  it  in  seeming  lifelessness,  and 
appears  as  a  large  moth  of  a  grayish  white  color,  furnished 
with  four  wings,  two  eyes,  and  two  black  horns  or  antlers 
which  have  a  feathery  appearance. 


104 


SIL&  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


If  left  until  this  period  within  the  cocoon,  the  moth  takes 
immediate  measures  for  its  extrication:  ejecting  from  its 
mouth  a  liquor  with  which  it  moistens  and  lessens  the  adhe- 
siveness of  the  gum  with  which  it  had  lined  the  interior  sur- 
face of  its  dwelling,  the  insect  is  enabled,  by  frequent  mo- 
tions of  its  head,  to  loosen,  without  breaking,  the  texture  of 
the  ball ;  then  using  its  hooked  feet,  it  pushes  aside  the  fila- 
ments and  makes  a  passage  for  itself  into  light  and  freedom. 
It  is  erroneously  said  that  the  moth  recovers  its  liberty  by 
gnawing  the  silken  threads ;  it  is  found,  on  the  contrary,  that 


Fig.  4. 


if  carefully  unwound,  their  continuity  is  by  this  means  rarefy 
broken. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  circumstances  connected 
with  the  natural  history  of  silkworms  is  the  degree  in  which 
their  bulk  and  weight  are  increased,  and  the  limited  time 
wherein  that  increase  is  attained.  Count  Dandolo,  who  ap- 
pears to  have  neglected  nothing  that  could  tend  to  the  right 
understanding  of  the  subject,  and  to  the  consequent  improve- 
ment of  the  processes  employed,  had  patience  enough  to 
count  and  weigh  many  hundred  thousand  eggs,  and  to  follow 
out  to  the  ultimate  result  his  inquiries  respecting  their  pro- 
duce. He  found  that  on  an  average  sixty-eight  sound  silk- 
worm's eggs  weighed  one  grain.  One  ounce,*  therefore, 
comprised  39,168  eggs.  But  one  twelfth. part  of  this  weight 
evaporates  previous  to  hatching,  and  the  shells  are  equal  to 
one  fifth  more.  If,  therefore,  from  one  ounce,  composed  of 
576  grains,  48  grains  be  deducted  for  evaporation,  and  115 
for  the  shells,  413  grains  will  remain  equal  to  the  weight 
of  39,168  young  worms  ;  and,  at  this  rate,  54,526  of  the  in- 

*This  ounce  contains  576  grains;  8.5325  of  these  grains  equal  seven 
grains  troy.  One  ounce  avoirdupoise  is  therefore  equal  to  about  533  of 
these  grains,  and  between  1  1-12  and  1  1-13  ounce  avoirdupoise  equals  one 
of  the  above  ounces. 


CHAP.  II. 


THE  SILKWORM. 


105 


sects,  when  newly  hatched,  are  required  to  make  up  the 
ounce.  After  the  first  casting-  of  the  skin,  3840  worms  are 
found  to  have  this  weight,  so  that  the  bulk  and  weight  of  the 
insects  have  in  a  few  days  been  multiplied  more  than  fourteen 
times.  After  the  second  change,  610  worms  weigh  an 
ounce,  the  weight  of  the  worms  being  increased  in  the  inter- 
mediate time  six  fold.  In  the  week  passed  between  the 
second  and  third  ages,  the  number  of  insects  required  to 
make  up  the  same  weight  decreases  from  610  to  144,  their 
wTeight  being  therefore  more  than  quadrupled.  Curing  the 
fourth  age,  a  similar  rate  of  increase  is  maintained  :  thirty- 
live  worms  now  weigh  an  ounce.  The  fifth  age  of  the  cater- 
pillar comprises  nearly  a  third  part  of  its  brief  existence,  and 
has  been  described,  by  an  enthusiastic  writer  on  the  subject, 
as  the  happiest  period  of  its  life,  during  which  it  rapidly  in- 
creases in  size,  and  prepares  and  secretes  the  material  which 
it  is  about  to  spin.  When  the  silkworms  are  fully  grown, 
and  have  arrived  at  their  period  of  finally  rejecting  food,  six 
of  them  make  up  the  weight  of  an  ounce.  They  have, 
therefore,  since  their  last  change,  again  added  to  their  weight 
six  fold. 

It  is  thus  seen  that,  in  a  few  short  wreeks,  the  insect  has 
multiplied  its  weight  more  than  nine  thousand  fold !  From 
this  period,  and  during  the  whole  of  its  two  succeeding  states 
of  being,  the  worm  imbibes  no  nourishment,  and  gradually 
diminishes  in  weight ;  being  supported  by  its  own  substance, 
and  appearing  to  find  sufficient  occupation  in  forming  its 
silken  wTeb,  and  providing  successors  for  our  service,  without 
indulging  that  grosser  appetite  which  forms  the  beginning 
and  the  end  of  their  desires  during  their  caterpillar  existence. 

The  moth  enjoys  its  liberty  for  only  a  very  brief  space. 
Its  first  employment  is  to  seek  its  mate;  after  which  the 
female  deposits  her  eggs ;  and  both,  in  the  course  of  two  or 
three  days  after,  end  their  being. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  in  putting  on  its  wings  the  in- 
sect does  not  acquire  a  greater  wish  for  change  than  charac- 
terizes its  former  state  of  life.  It  remains,  with  the  sole  ex- 
ception just  named,  fixed  at  one  spot,  its  wrings  serving  only 
by  their  fluttering  to  assist  the  moth  in  moving  the  few 
inches  which  may  be  necessary  in  fulfilling  one  of  the  ends 
of  its  existence. 

The  number  of  eggs  produced  by  the  female  moth  is  va- 
riously stated  ;  some  accounts  mention  250,  while  others 
reckon  400  to  500  as  the  usual  number.  This  varies,  no 
doubt,  with  the  circumstances  wherein  the  moth  is  placed. 


iOO  SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  It* 

Count  Danddlo  obtained  an  ounce  of  eggs  from  180  cocoons, 
in  which  the  sexes  were  equally  divided.  Pullein  states 
that  200  cocoons  are  necessary  for  the  production  of  that 
quantity ;  and  in  the  Cours  d' Agriculture,  240  cocoons  are 
said  to  yield  only  an  ounce  of  eggs. 

The  relative  length,  at  each  age,  of  a  worm  which  attains 
its  greatest  length,  are, — 

at  hatching,  unity  or-  1 

at  the  end  of  the  first  age  4 

of  the  second  age  -  -  -  -  6 

of  the  third  age  12 

of  the  fourth  age  20 

of  the  fifth  age  40 

The  worm  measures  sometimes,  when  at  its  greatest 
length,  more  than  three  inches ;  but  few  attain  to  so  great 
dimensions.  The  following  lines  show  the  proportions  of  the 
silkworm  at  each  age  of  its  life. 

The  small  curved  line  at  the  top  represents  the  worm 
when  just  hatched ;  the  lines  to  which  are  attached  the  nu- 
merals 1,  2,  3,  4,  show  the  sizes  at  the  ages  corresponding  to 
those  numbers,  and  the  lines  No.  5  describe  its  dimensions 
shortly  before  it  prepares  to  spin.  The  horizontal  lines  re- 
present the  lengths,  and  the  perpendicular  lines  the  diameters 
of  the  insect. 

Change  of  climate  materially  affects  for  a  time  the  breed 
of  silkworms.  In  attempting,  therefore,  to  naturalize  them 
in  any  place,  it  is  important  to  procure  eggs  from  some  coun- 


3 


4 


b 


try  of  the  same  temperature.  Where  this  is  impracticable, 
they  should  be  brought  from  a  colder,  rather  than  from  a 
warmer  climate.  A  very  small  variation  of  temperature  will 


CHAP.  II. 


THE  SILKWORM* 


107 


produce  a  very  marked  effect.  Monsieur  Chazal  relates, 
that  worms  hatched  in  the  Mauritius,  from  eggs  procured  in 
Bengal,  neither  attained  to  their  natural  size,  nor  afforded 
the  usual  quantity  of  silk,  which,  besides,  was  of  indifferent 
quality.  His  second  brood,  proceeding  from  the  eggs  of  these 
imported  worms,  were  larger,  and  yielded  a  better  produce 
both  in  quantity  and  quality ;  but  the  insects  did  not  fully 
recover  the  desirable  qualities  of  their  progenitors  until  the 
fourth  generation. 


In  addition  to  the  silkworms  most  commonly  reared,  there 
are  two  varieties  of  this  insect,  which  are  partially  cultivated, 
and  which  require  some  description. 

One  of  these  is  a  small  worm,  which  casts  its  skin  only 
thrice,  and  goes  through  its  caterpillar  life  in  four  days  less 
time  than  the  worm  already  described.  Its  eggs  are  about 
one  seventh  part  lighter  than  those  of  the  common  species, 
42,620  eggs  being  required  to  make  up  the  weight  of  one 
ounce.  The  worms  themselves,  when  arrived  at  their  full 
growth,  are  only  three  fifths  of  the  ordinary  size  and  weight, 
and  the  balls  which  they  make  are  in  the  like  proportion : 
four  hundred  of  these  weigh  only  one  pound.  In  forming 
this  weight  of  cocoons,  these  worms  do  not  consume  quite  as 
much  food  as  the  larger  species.  The  orifices  through  which 
they  draw  the  silken  material  are  more  minute  than  those  of 
common  silkworms ;  and  the  filament,  which  on  that  account 
is  finer,  has  a  more  beautiful  appearance.  Their  cocoons  are 
also  more  perfectly  formed,  and,  in  equal  weights,  will  yield 
a  greater  proportion  of  reeled  silk  than  ordinary  cocoons, 
4363  affording,  on  an  average,  one  pound  of  pure  silk :  each 
cocoon,  therefore,  furnishes  little  more  than  2^  grains  of  silk, 
which  measures,  if  one  ball  be  estimated  with  another,  a 
very  small  fraction  under  four  hundred  yards. 

They  are  considered  by  some  persons  as  being  delicate,  but 
it  does  not  appear  that  they  call  for  a  greater  degree  of  atten- 
tion than  should  be  bestowed  on  other  worms.  Their  eggs 
may  readily  be  obtained  in  Italy. 

The  second  variety  becomes  much  larger  than  the  common 
sort:  their  eggs,  however,  are  not  proportionally  heavy, 
weighing  little  more  than  one  thirtieth  part  beyond  those  of 
other  worms :  it  requires  37,440  of  them  to  make  an  ounce. 
When  at  their  utmost  growth,  two  of  these  insects  will 
weigh  as  much  as  five  common  silkworms,  and  the  weight  of 
the  cocoon  which  they  construct  is  in  nearly  the  same  pro- 
portion. 


108 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


The  advantage  offered  to  the  cultivator  by  this  description 
of  worm,  is  economy  in  the  quantity  of  food.  In  ordinary 
seasons,  12h  pounds  of  mulberry  leaves  will  nourish  as  many 
worms  as  produce  one  pound  of  cocoons,  which  is  a  saving 
of  one  tenth  the  average  weight  required  for  the  production 
of  a  similar  quantity  by  common  worms.  On  the  other  hand, 
this  variety  occupies  five  or  six  days  longer  in  passing 
through  their  mutations,  and  before  they  begin  to  spin.  One 
hundred  of  their  cocoons  weigh  a  pound,  and  one  thousand 
and  ninety-one  of  them  will  yield  one  pound  of  reeled  silk  : 
each  cocoon,  therefore,  furnishes  nearly  8^  grains  of  silk,  and 
the  length  of  its  thread  is  very  nearly  1300  yards.  This 
breed  of  worms  is  to  be  found  in  Friuli.* 

The  constitution  of  worms  of  this  larger  species,  does  not 
offer  inducements  for  their  adoption  into  more  temperate  cli- 
mates ;  but  the  advantages  offered  by  the  smaller  variety 
make  them  worthy  of  observation  and  experiment  on  the 
part  of  silk  cultivators. 


CHAP.  III. 

MODE  OF  REARING  SILKWORMS  IN  CHINA. 

Silkworms  sometimes  reared  on  Trees. — Produce  inferior  to  that  spun  in 
Houses.— Mode  of  delaying  the  Hatching  of  Eggs.— Method  of  Hatching. 
— Situation  of  Rearing  Rooms. — Number  of  Meals. — Necessity  of  pre- 
venting Damp.— Of  preserving  Cleanliness.— Space  allotted  to  Worms. 
— Preparations  for  Spinning. — Collection  of  Cocoons. — Destruction  of 
Chrysalides. — Buildings  employed  for  rearing  Silkworms  in  India. 

Before  entering  upon  any  description  of  the  methods 
practised  in  Europe  for  rearing  silkworms,  it  appears  desi- 
rable to  give  a  brief  account  of  the  means  employed  for  that 
end  in  China.  It  will  be  seen,  from  this  sketch,  how  supe- 
rior, in  many  respects,  were  the  arrangements  of  the  Chinese 
cultivators;  and  that  in  departing  from  the  course  so  long 
pursued  by  them,  Europeans  made  choice  of  modes  less 
rational  and  simple  for  attaining  the  desired  result.  The  in- 
quiries and  experiments  of  later  days  have  brought  us  back 
from  the  confused  procedures,  which  so  long  imparted  uncer- 
tainty, and  so  frequently  led  to  disappointment,  and  have  in- 
troduced, instead,  judicious  and  methodical  arrangements. 


*  Friuli  silk  is  said  to  be  more  troublesome  and  wasteful  in  its  manufac- 
ture than  that  of  either  Franc*  or  Lombardy ;  an  effect  which  may  b* 
•wing  to  their  breed  of  wormt. 


C II APt  III. 


SILKWORMS   IN  CHINA. 


109 


In  those  parts  of  the  empire  where  the  climate  is  favorable 
to  the  practice,  and  where  alone,  most  probably,  the  silkworm 
is  indigenous,  it  remains  at  liberty,  feeding  at  pleasure  on 
the  leaves  of  its  native  mulberry  tree,  and  going  through  all 
its  mutations  among  the  branches,  uncontrolled  by  the  hand 
and  unassisted  by  the  cares  of  man.  So  soon,  however,  as 
the  silken  balls  have  been  constructed,  they  are  appropriated 
by  the  universal  usurper,  who  spares  only  the  few  required 
to  reproduce  their  numbers,  and  thus  to  furnish  him  with 
successive  harvests.* 

This  silk,  the  spontaneous  offering  of  nature,  is  not,  how- 
ever, equal  in  fineness  to  that  which  is  spun  by  worms  under 
shelter,  and  whose  progressions  are  influenced  by  careful 
tendance.  Much  attention  is,  therefore,  bestowed  by  the 
Chinese  in  the  artificial  rearing  of  silkworms.  One  of  their 
principal  cares  is  to  prevent  the  too  early  hatching  of  the 
eggs,  to  which  the  nature  of  the  climate  so  strongly  disposes 
them.  The  mode  of  insuring  the  requisite  delay  is,  to  cause 
the  moth  to  deposit  her  eggs  on  large  sheets  of  paper :  these, 
immediately  on  their  production,  are  suspended  to  a  beam  of 
the  room,  and  the  windows  are  opened  to  expose  them  to  the 
air.  In  a  few  days  the  papers  are  taken  down  and  rolled  up 
loosely  with  the  eggs  withinside,  in  which  form  they  are 
hung  again  during  the  remainder  of  the  summer  and  through 
the  autumn.  Towards  the  end  of  the  year  they  are  im- 
mersed in  cold  water  wherein  a  small  portion  of  salt  has 
been  dissolved.  In  this  state  the  eggs  are  left  during  two 
days ;  and  on  being  taken  from  the  salt  and  water  are  first 
hung  to  dry,  and  are  then  rolled  up  rather  more  tightly  than 
before,  each  sheet  of  paper  being  thereafter  inclosed  in  a 
separate  earthen  vessel.  Some  persons,  who  are  exceedingly 
particular  in  their  processes,  use  a  ley  made  of  mulberry  tree 
ashes,  and  place  the  eggs  likewise,  during  some  minutes,  on 
snow  water,  or  otherwise  on  a  mulberry  tree  exposed  to  snow 
or  rain. 

These  processes  appear  efficacious  for  checking  the  hatch- 
ing, until  the  expanding  leaves  of  the  mulberry  tree  give 
notice  to  the  rearer  of  silkworms  that  he  may  take  measures 
for  bringing  forth  his  brood.  For  this  purpose  the  rolls  of 
paper  are  taken  from  the  earthen  vessels,  and  are  hung  up  to- 
wards the  sun,  the  side  to  which  the  eggs  adhere  being  turn- 
ed from  its  rays,  which  are  transmitted  to  them  through  the 
paper.    In  the  evening  the  sheets  are  rolled  closely  up  and 


*  Note  W. 

K 


110 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II, 


placed  in  a  warm  situation.  The  same  proceeding  is  repeat- 
ed on  the  following  day,  when  the  eggs  assume  a  grayish 
color.  On  the  evening  of  the  third  day,  after  a  similar  ex- 
posure, they  are  found  to  be  of  a  much  darker  color,  nearly 
approaching  to  black;  and  the  following  morning,  on  the 
paper  being  unrolled,  they  are  seen  covered  with  worms.  In 
the  higher  latitudes  the  Chinese  have  recourse  to  the  heat  of 
stoves,  to  promote  the  simultaneous  hatching  of  eggs. 

The  apartments  in  which  the  worms  are  kept  stand  in  dry 
situations,  in  a  pure  atmosphere,  and  apart  from  all  noise, 
which  is  thought  to  be  annoying  to  the  worms,  and  especially 
when  they  are  young.  The  rooms  are  made  very  close,  but 
adequate  means  of  ventilation  are  provided  :  the  doors  open 
to  the  south.  Each  chamber  is  provided  with  nine  or  ten 
rows  of  frames,  placed  one  above  the  other.  On  these  frames 
rush  hurdles  are  ranged,  upon  which  the  worms  are  fed 
through  all  their  five  ages.  A  uniform  degree  of  heat  is 
constantly  preserved,  either  by  means  of  stoves  placed  in  the 
corners  of  the  apartments,  or  by  chafing-dishes  which  from 
time  to  time  are  carried  up  and  down  the  room.  Flame  and 
smoke  are  always  carefully  avoided :  cow-dung  dried  in  the 
sun  is  preferred  by  the  Chinese  to  all  other  kinds  of  fuel  for 
this  purpose. 

The  most  unremitting  attention  is  paid  to  the  wants  of  the 
worms,  which  are  fed  during  the  night  as  well  as  the  day. 
On  the  day  of  their  being  hatched  they  are  furnished  with 
forty  meals,  thirty  are  given  in  the  second  day,  and  fewer  in 
and  after  the  third  day.  The  Chinese  believe  that  the 
growth  of  silkworms  is  accelerated,  and  their  success  pro- 
moted, by  the  abundance  of  their  food;  and  therefore,  in 
cloudy  and  damp  weather,  when  the  insects  are  injuriously 
affected  by  the  state  of  the  atmosphere,  their  appetites  are 
stimulated  by  a  wisp  of  very  dry  straw  being  lighted  and 
held  over  them,  by  means  of  which  the  cold  and  damp  air  is 
dissipated. 

It  is  affirmed  by  these  accurate  observers,  that  the  quicker 
the  worm  arrives  at  its  maturity,  the  greater  is  the  quantity 
of  silk  which  it  spins.  They  say,  that  if  the  worms  become 
fully  grown  in  twenty  or  twenty-five  days,  each  drachm 
weight  of  eggs  will  produce  twenty-five  ounces  of  silk ;  that 
if  their  maturity  be  delayed  to  the  twenty-eighth  day,  only 
twenty  ounces  are  obtained ;  and  that  if  thirty  or  forty  days 
elapse  between  the  hatching  and  the  commencement  of  the 
pocoons,  then  only  ten  ounces  are  the  result. 

The  Chinese  are  exceedingly  careful  in  preserving  the 


CHAP.  III. 


SILKWORMS  IN  CHINA. 


Ill 


nicest  degree  of  cleanliness  in  their  establishments  fbr  rear- 
ing silkworms ;  being  fully  aware  of  the  great  importance 
which  attaches  to  that  particular. 

The  worms,  as  they  increase  in  growth,  have  gradually 
more  space  assigned  to  them ;  so  that  the  full-grown  cater- 
pillars have  four  times  the  scope  that  is  allotted  to  them 
when  newly  hatched,  and  sometimes  even  more. 

When  the  insects  are  about  to  commence  their  spinning, 
mats  are  provided,  in  the  centre  of  which  a  strip  of  rush, 
about  an  inch  broad,  is  fixed,  and  extended  in  a  spiral  form, 
or  in  concentric  circles,  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  mat, 
leaving  an  area  of  about  an  inch  broad  between  each  circle. 
Here  the  worms  fix  themselves  to  spin  ;  and  it  is  found  that 
these  receptacles  occasion  less  silk  to  be  wasted  by  them  in 
floss,  than  when  more  space  is  allotted  wherein  their  first 
threads  can  be  spun.  At  this  time  the  whole  room  is  care- 
fully covered  with  mats,  to  exclude  the  outward  air  and  the 
light,  as  it  is  believed  that  silkworms  work  more  diligently 
in  darkness. 

In  seven  days  from  the  commencement  of  the  cocoons  they 
are  collected  in  heaps,  those  which  are  designed  to  continue 
the  breed  being  first  selected  and  set  apart  on  hurdles,  in  a 
dry  and  airy  situation.  The  next  care  is  to  destroy  the  vi- 
tality of  the  chrysalides  in  those  balls  which  are  to  be  reeled. 
The  most  approved  method  of  performing  this  is  to  fill  large 
earthen  vessels  with  cocoons,  in  layers,  throwing  in  one  for- 
tieth part  of  their  weight  of  salt  upon  each  layer,  covering 
the  whole  with  large  dry  leaves  resembling  those  of  the 
water-lily,  and  then  closely  stopping  the  mouths  of  the  ves- 
sels. In  reeling  their  silk,  the  Chinese  separate  the  thick 
and  dark  from  the  long  and  glittering  white  cocoons,  as  the 
produce  of  the  former  is  inferior. 

In  India,  the  climate  admits  of  silkworms  being  reared  in 
buildings  resembling  sheds  rather  than  houses.  They  are 
composed  of  lattice-work,  and  their  roofs  are  covered  with 
thatch.  The  breadth  of  such  buildings  is  usually  fifteen 
feet,  and  their  height  eight  feet ;  their  length  is  regulated  by 
the  extent  of  accommodation  required.  In  the  centre  of  the 
apartment  a  path  is  left,  of  convenient  width  for  the  attend- 
ants to  pass  and  repass  in  supplying  the  wants  of  their  charge ; 
and  on  either  side  are  twelve  tiers  or  stages,  one  above  an- 
other, of  open  frame-work,  or  shallow  boxes  made  of  bamboo, 
in  which  the  worms  are  placed.  When  ready  to  spin,  each 
worm  is  individually  transferred  to  a  small  cell  formed  with 
platted  strips  of  bamboo, 


112 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


CHAP.  IV. 
MODE  OF  REARING  SILKWORMS  IN  EUROPE. 

Great  Degree  of  Carefulness  required. — Absurdities  formerly  believed  con- 
cerning Silkworms.— Choice  of  Eggs. — Modes  of  Hatching. — Use  of  Stove- 
Rooms. — Their  Temperature. — Conveying  of  Worms  to  Rearing-House. — 
Necessity  for  Classing  Worms  according  to  their  Ages. — Reverend  Mr. 
Swayne's  Apparatus. — Space  allowed  to  Worms. — Mode  of  Feeding. — 
Quantity  of  Leaves  consumed. — Arbors  for  Spinning.— Necessity  of  At- 
tention to  minute  points  in  Management. — Regulation  of  Temperature. 
— Silkworms  will  not  spin  in  cold  atmosphere. — Ventilation. — Effect  of 
Noise. — Electric  Influence. — Conductors. 

The  various  operations  of  an  establishment  for  the  produc- 
tion of  silk  are,  ordinarily,  all  begun  and  concluded  in  the 
course  of  a  few  weeks ;  yet  they  call  for  a  considerable  de- 
gree of  attention  on  the  part  of  its  conductor,  and  can  hardly 
be  brought  to  a  successful  issue  without  the  aid  of  experience. 
This  is  especially  the  case  in  Europe,  where  atmospheric 
changes  are  continually  arising,  which  in  various  ways  influ- 
ence the  tender  silk-producing  insect.  One  false  step  in 
management  might  be  fatal,  and  one  day's  relaxation  of  the 
breeder's  cares  would  suffice  to  bring  all  his  previous  labors 
to  nothing. 

The  degree  of  skilfulness  and  care  thus  required  for  the 
successful  rearing  of  silkworms  upon  any  useful  scale,  cannot 
be  adequately  estimated  by  the  experience  of  those  persons 
in  England,  who,  as  a  matter  of  curiosity  or  of  amusement, 
have  watched  over  a  few  hundred  worms,  and  have  wound 
off  the  silk  which  these  have  furnished,  unassailed  by  acci- 
dent or  misfortune.  It  is  very  natural  to  suppose,  that  what 
is  so  easily  practicable  with  a  small  number,  offers  little  diffi- 
culty as  an  extensive  employment.  If,  however,  the  English 
breeder  considers  the  time,  however  short  it  may  have  ap- 
peared, and  the  labor,  however  unimportant  in  his  estimation, 
bestowed  on  his  inconsiderable  brood,  and  thence  calculates 
the  greater  labor  which  must  attend  upon  the  rearing  of 
hundreds  of  thousands,  or,  perhaps,  millions  of  insects,  its 
insignificance  will  disappear.  He  may  then  naturally 
imagine,  how  great  is  the  importance  of  abridging  that  labor, 
of  economizing  expense,  and  of  providing  in  every  way 
against  accidents,  which,  if  occurring  to  interrupt  his  amuse- 
ment, would  be  merely  vexatious,  but  upon  the  avoiding  of 
which,  under  other  circumstances,  depend  the  subsistence 
and  well-being  of  thousands. 

Many  treatises  have  appeared  from  time  to  time  containing 


CHAP.  IV. 


SILKWORMS  IN  EUROPE. 


113 


copious  information  for  the  guidance  of  silk  cultivators. 
Partaking  in  the  generally  increasing  intelligence,  recent 
Writers  on  this  branch  Of  industry  have  treated  it  rationally 
and  practically ;  but  it  is  remarkable,  to  how  late  a  period 
this  object,  which  addressed  itself  to  the  interests  of  exten- 
sive communities,  was  gravely  made  the  subject  of  the  most 
absurd  and  unphilosophic  notions. 

Pomet,  chief  druggist  to  Louis  le  Grand,  and  who  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  wrote  his  "  General 
History  of  Drugs,"  a  work  by  which  he  acquired  considerable 
reputation,  seriously,  and  with  all  the  signs  of  credence, 
quotes  from  Isnard,  the  following  directions  for  improving  the 
breed  of  silkworms: — 

"At  the  time  when  the  mulberry  leaves  are  ready  to 
gather,  which  should  be  five  days  after  their  budding,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  spring,  they  take  a  cow  which  is  almost  at 
calving,  and  feed  her  wholly  with  mulberry  leaves,  without 
giving  her  any  thing  else  to  eat  of  herbs,  hay,  &c.  or  the 
like,  till  she  has  calved  ;  and  this  they  continue  for  eight 
days  longer,  after  which,  they  let  the  cow  and  the  calf  both 
feed  upon  this  some  days  together,  without  any  other  mixture 
as  before.  They  kill  the  calf  after  it  has  been  filled  or 
satiated  with  the  mulberry  leaves  and  the  cow's  milk,  then 
chop  it  to  pieces  to  the  very  feet,  and  without  throwing  any 
thing  away,  put  all  together,  the  flesh,  blood,  bones,  skin,  and 
entrails,  into  a  wooden  trough,  and  set  it  at  top  of  the  house, 
in  a  granary  or  garret,  till  it  is  corrupted  ;  and  from  this  will 
proceed  little  worms,  which  they  lay  together  in  a  heap  with 
mulberry  leaves  to  raise  them  afterwards,  just  as  they  do 
those  which  are  produced  from  the  eggs ;  so  that  those  who 
deal  considerably  in  them,  never  fail,  every  ten  or  twelve 
years,  to  raise  them  this  way."  The  authority  of  Isnard 
upon  the  culture  of  silk  was  long  considered  unquestionable. 

It  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  origin  of  such  a  childish 
fable ;  and  one  is  at  a  loss  whether  most  to  admire  the  impu- 
dence of  the  falsehood,  or  the  credulity  which  led  to  its  re- 
ception. Thousands,  who,  of  their  own  knowledge,  could 
contradict  the  absurdity,  were  living  in  the  very  country 
where  it  was  put  forth,  and  yet  in  the  capital  of  that  coun- 
try, we  see  a  man  of  literature,  and  reputed  to  possess  a  de- 
gree of  scientific  knowledge  equal  to  most  in  his  day,  stamp- 
ing the  assertion  with  the  sanction  of  his  authority.  Still 
later  than  this,  Lemery,  who  by  his  writings  and  lectures  did 
much  to  disencumber  chemical  science  from  the  clouds  of 
ignorance  wherein  it  was  enveloped  in  his  day,  republished 


114  SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  II. 


Pomet's  work  with  a  commentary,  and  preserved  the  above 
passage,  venturing  only  to  qualify  its  insertion  with  the  very 
gentle  remark,  "  this  thought,  however,  wants  confirmation." 

The  proper  choice  of  eggs  is  the  first  care  of  the  culti- 
vator. From  this  he  may  relieve  himself  in  succeeding 
seasons,  the  operations  of  his  own  filature  producing  the 
requisite  quantity.  The  Italian  writers  on  the  culture  of 
silk  give  very  copious  directions  for  choosing  eggs,  and  for 
detecting  and  avoiding  the  fraudulent  arts  sometimes  prac- 
tised by  their  vendors. 

Good  sound  eggs  are  of  a  bluish-gray  color;  those  which 
are  yellow  should  on  no  account  be  purchased.  It  is  common 
with  the  peasants  whose  eggs  are  of  the  latter  description  to 
give  them  so  much  the  appearance  of  sound  eggs,  by  wash- 
ing them  in  muddy,  dark-colored  wine,  that  considerable  judg- 
ment is  required  to  detect  the  cheat. 

Where ,  silkworms'  eggs  are  brought  from  a  distant  coun- 
try, much  attention  is  demanded  to  prevent  their  premature 
hatching.  This  has  been  successfully  accomplished  by 
placing  them,  when  newly-laid,  and  carefully  dried,  in  glass 
phials  closely  sealed  to  exclude  air  and  moisture :  the  whole 
being  then  immersed  in  earthen  pots  rilled  with  cold  water, 
which  must  be  renewed  as  often  as  it  becomes  warm. 

The  hatching  process,  until  within  a  very  few  years  of  the 
present  time,  was  usually  conducted  in  a  very  immethodical 
or  uncertain  manner.  Many  cultivators  depended  on  the 
spontaneous  appearance  of  the  worms,  called  forth  only  by 
the  natural  warmth  of  the  advancing  season.  Others  had 
recourse  to  the  heat  of  manure  beds,  but  the  method  most 
frequently  employed  was  to  foster  them  into  life  by  the  heat 
of  the  human  body.  The  mode  of  accomplishing  this,  was 
to  place  a  small  silk  or  cotton  bag  containing  one  or  two 
ounces  of  eggs  in  the  bosom  next  to  the  skin.  The  persons 
with  whom  these  deposits  were  intrusted  were  forbidden  to 
use  any  violent  exercise,  lest  their  charge  might  be  crushed, 
or  otherwise  sustain  injury  through  the  consequent  inequality 
of  temperature.  It  would  have  been  unsafe  to  continue- the 
bags  in  this  position  during  the  night,  and  it  was  therefore 
most  usual  to  place  them  beneath  the  pillow,  which  was  pre- 
viously heated  to  the  temperature  of  the  human  body,  using 
precautions  also  against  injury,  by  placing  some  stiff  sub- 
stance over  the  eggs.  When  this  companionship  had  lasted 
three  days,  and  it  was  judged  that  the  worms  were  shortly 
about  to  appear,  the  eggs  were  very  gently  transferred  to 
shallow  boxes  made  of  thin  wood,  similar  to  those  used  for 


CHAP.  IV. 


SILKWORMS  IN  EUROPE. 


115 


containing  wafers :  these  were  placed  between  warmed  pil- 
lows as  before  described;  and  if  the  hatching  were  still 
further  delayed,  fresh  heated  pillows  were  supplied  through 
the  ensuing  day,  and  continued  until  the  insects  had  burst 
their  shells.  Some  persons  used  warm  pillows  from  the  com- 
mencement, and  avoided  the  system  of  human  incubation. 

Count  Dandolo  recommended  and  adopted  the  use  of 
stoves  for  heating  the  apartment  in  which  his  eggs  were 
hatched,  and  by  such  means  rendered  the  operation  in  a  great 
degree  certain,  removing,  at  the  same  time,  much  of  the 
trouble  by  which  it  had  previously  been  accompanied.  Pre- 
viously to  placing  the  eggs  in  this  heated  atmosphere,  the 
count  caused  the  cloths  to  which  the  eggs  adhered  to  be 
agitated  for  five  or  six  minutes  in  a  vessel  containing  water, 
in  order  to  lessen  the  adhesiveness  of  the  matter  which  re- 
tained them  on  the  cloths.  Having  then  suffered  the  water 
to  drain  from  them  during  two  or  three  minutes,  the  cloths 
were  stretched  out  on  tables,  and  the  eggs  were  gently 
scraped  from  them  by  an  instrument  whose  edge  was  not 
sufficiently  sharp  to  cut  the  eggs,  nor  yet  so  blunt  as  to  crush 
them.  The  eggs,  thus  removed,  were  placed  in  water  and 
washed,  still  further  to  free  them  from  gum,  and  to  promote 
their  separation  from  each  other.  If  any  floated  on  the  sur- 
face in  this  washing, .  they  were  removed  and  destroyed  as 
spoilt.  The  water  again  being  drained  from  them,  the  eggs 
were  next  washed  in  some  sound  light  wine,  and  gentle  fric- 
tion was  used  to  perfect  their  mutual  separation.  They  were 
then  strained  and  dried,  by  being  placed  on  an  absorbing  sub- 
stance in  a  dry  airy  place,  whose  temperature  was  between 
forty-six  and  fifty-nine  degrees  of  Fahrenheit's  scale,  there  to 
await  the  proper  moment  for  placing  them  in  the  stove-room. 
It  has  always  been  customary  in  Italy  to  employ  wine  as  a 
solvent  for  the  gum  which  causes  the  eggs  to  adhere  together, 
and  which  is  thought  to  make  the  task  of  disengaging  itself 
from  the  shell  more  difficult  to  the  insect. 

It  has  been  suggested,  that  one  hatching  room,  upon  a 
sufficient  scale,  might  be  employed  for  the  general  accommo- 
dation, in  bringing  forth  all  the  silkworms  of  the  surrounding 
district ;  and  if  proper  confidence  could  be  placed  in  the  pro- 
prietor of  such  an  establishment,  there  is  no  doubt  of  its 
great  convenience  to  the  cultivators. 

When  eggs  are  first  placed  in  the  stove-room,  its  temper- 
ature should  be  sixty-four  degrees;  on  the  third  day  this 
should  be  raised  to  sixty-six  degrees ;  and  on  each  following 
day.  the  heat  should  be  increased  one  or  two  degrees,  so  that 


116 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


on  the  tenth  day  it  shall  have  reached  eighty-two  degrees, 
which  point  must  not  be  exceeded.  The  degree  of  warmth 
required  for  hatching  the  eggs  of  silkworms  depends  very 
much,  however,  upon  the  temperature  to  which  they  have 
been  exposed  during  the  preceding  winter.  It  is,  therefore, 
important  that  this  point  should  be  considered,  so  as  to  avoid 
premature  hatching  on  the  one  hand,  and  too  great  a  retard- 
ing on  the  other,  which  would  follow  if  the  eggs  had  been 
exposed  to  any  severity  of  cold. 

When  the  eggs  assume  a  whitish  color,  it  is  a  sign  that 
they  are  about  to  be  hatched ;  and  now,  by  the  aid  of  a  mag- 
nifying glass,  the  worms  may  be  seen  formed  within  the 
shells.  Sheets  of  white  paper,  abundantly  pierced  with 
holes,  or  otherwise  pieces  of  clear  muslin,  should  now  be 
placed  over  the  eggs,  covering  them  entirely ;  when,  as  the 
worms  come  forth,  they  will  climb  through  to  the  upper  sur- 
face of  the  paper  or  muslin. 

To  collect  the  worms  for  the  purpose  of  conveying  them  to 
the  rearing-house,  small  twigs  of  mulberry,  with  very  few 
leaves,  are  placed  on  the  paper.  On  these  leaves  the  newly- 
hatched  worms  immediately  fix,  and  fresh  twigs  being  con- 
stantly supplied  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  continually  increas- 
ing number  of  worms,  the  whole  may  be  readily  collected. 
When  their  removal  to  any  considerable  distance  is  neces- 
sary, this  is  easily  and  safely  performed  by  placing  the  sheets 
of  paper  and  mulberry  twigs  in  boxes  or  well-lined  baskets, 
using  every  precaution  to  exclude  the  external  air  from  the 
now  delicate  brood.  The  worms  should  be  removed  only  in 
fine  weather,  and  during  the  warmest  part  of  the  day,  and 
they  should  be  supplied  with  leaves  for  their  consumption 
while  on  the  road. 

The  apartment  wherein  the  newly-hatched  worms  are 
placed  must  be  dry  and  warm,  with  its  windows  opening  on 
opposite  sides,  that  perfect  ventilation  may  be  obtained  when 
desirable.  The  room  should  be  furnished  with  a  stove,  and 
thermometers  must  be  provided,  that  the  temperature  may  be 
precisely  regulated.  Wicker  shelves  are  usually  placed 
around  at  convenient  distances,  and  are  lined  with  paper :  on 
these  the  worms  are  placed.  The  greatest  precautions  must 
be  taken  to  prevent  the  intrusion  of  rats  and  mice,  as  well  as 
many  of  the  insect  tribe,  as  these  are  more  or  less  destruc- 
tive to  silkworms.  Smoke,  and  bad  smells,  are  likewise  con- 
sidered prejudicial,  and  must  be  avoided. 

All  writers  on  the  treatment  of  these  insects  agree  in  re- 
commending, that  worms  which  are  not  hatched  at  the  same 


CHAP.  IV.  SILKWORMS  IN  EUROPE.  117 


time  should  on  no  account  be  placed  together.  The  neglect 
of  this  precaution  would  occasion  constant  trouble  to  the  at- 
tendants ;  the  changes  occurring  at  different  periods,  it  would 
be  impossible  to  attend  to  the  quantity  of  their  food  with  the 
degree  of  regularity  that  is  desirable.  This  point  is  so  much 
insisted  upon  by  many  cultivators,  that  to  avoid  the  evil,  all 
eggs  which  remain  unhatched  beyond  the  second  day  after 
the  first  appearance  of  the  worms  are  destroyed.  It  is  said 
also,  that  if  those  of  a  later  birth  are  reared,  they  generally 
prove  weak  in  constitution,  and  produce  less  than  their  proper 
quantity  of  silk. 

The  reverend  Mr.  Swayne,  who  some  years  ago  bestowed 
much  attention  upon  the  culture  of  silk  in  England,  proposed 
the  use  of  a  simple  apparatus  for  receiving  and  feeding  the 
worms  during  their  caterpillar  state.  His  plan  offers  advan- 
tages, in  the  important  point  of  cleanliness,  greater  than 
those  possessed  by  the  wicker  shelves  usually  employed,  and 
it  is  thought  that  a  description  of  it  may  prove  useful. 

The  apparatus  consists  of  a  wooden  frame,  four  feet  two 
inches  high,  furnished  with  eight  open  drawers  or  slides, 
which  can  be  readily  thrust  in  or  drawn  out  from  the  frame. 


Fig.  5. 


118 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


The  upper  slide  a  is  of  paper,  and  designed  to  receive  the 
newly-hatched  worms.  The  two  slides,  b  6,  are  formed  of 
catgut,  the  threads  of  which  are  about  one  tenth  of  an  inch 
apart :  these  are  for  the  insects  in  their  second  and  third  ages. 
The  five  slides  c  c  are  of  wicker-work  or  netting,  and  are 
appropriated  to  the  insects  in  their  more  forward  stages.  Be- 
neath each  of  the  drawers,  with  the  exception  of  that  marked 
0,  other  slides  of  paper  are  inserted  to  receive  the  litter  of 
the  worms,  which,  by  this  means,  may  be  frequently  removed 
without  occasioning  any  disturbance  to  the  insects.  These 
must  not  be  retained  in  the  upper  drawers  b  b  after  they 
have  become  so  large  that  their  litter  will  not  fall  through 
the  catgut  bottoms  :  at  this  time  they  must  be  transferred  to 
the  wicker  or  netting  slides,  which,  the  inventor  imagined 
would,  from  their  greater  number,  offer  space  enough  for  the 
accommodation  of  as  many  full-grown  caterpillars  as  the  up- 
per drawer  would  contain  of  those  newly  hatched.  Under 
this  arrangement  the  litter  may  be  removed  as  often  as  the 
worms  are  fed. 

It  has  been  computed,  that  three  square  feet  of  surface  af- 
ford ample  space  for  the  worms  proceeding  from  an  ounce  of 
eggs,  until  the  period  of  their  first  sickness  is  passed ;  and 
that  this  space  should  be  multiplied  thrice  at  each  succeeding 
age.  Count  Dandolo  considered  that  silkworms  would  be 
injuriously  crowded  in  these  dimensions,  and  recommended, 
that  eight  square  feet  should  be  allotted  to  the  worms  during 
their  first  age ;  fifteen  feet  for  the  second  age ;  thirty-five 
feet  for  the  third ;  eighty-two  and  a  half  feet  for  the  fourth  ; 
and  about  two  hundred  feet  for  the  fifth  age.  According  to 
these  proportions  Mr.  Swayne's-  apparatus  is  very  imperfect, 
but  this  defect  may  easily  be  remedied  in  practice. 

The  mulberry  leaves  given  to  the  newly-hatched  brood 
should  be  young  and  tender,  and  chopped  into  minute  por- 
tions. These  should  be  strewed  evenly  over  the  whole  space 
of  the  shelves,  that  there  may  not  be  any  unnecessary  crowd- 
ing of  the  insects  in  one  spot.  It  is  indeed  advisable,  when 
—  as  they  sometimes  will  —  the  worms  get  heaped  upon  one 
another,  that  a  leaf  should  be  presented  over  them;  to  this 
some  will  quickly  attach  themselves,  and  may  then  be  re- 
moved to  a  less  crowded  situation. 

The  worms  proceeding  from  one  ounce  of  eggs  will  con- 
sume six  pounds  of  chopped  leaves  before  their  first  moulting. 
Their  second  age  is  of  shorter  duration,  but  the  greater 
size  of  ihe  worms  requires  a  more  abundant  supply  of  food  ; 
and  eighteen  pounds  of  leaves,  chopped  less  finely  than  be* 


CHAP.  IV.  SILKWORMS  IN  EUROPE. 


119 


fore,  must  be  given,  during"  its  continuance,  to  the  same  num- 
ber. In  the  third  age,  sixty  pounds  of  leaves,  still  a  little 
chopped,  must  be  given  ;  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds 
will  be  consumed  during  their  fourth  age ;  and  in  their  fifth 
and  longest  age,  one  thousand  and  ninety-eight  pounds  of 
leaves  are  devoured  by  these  insects,  which,  when  hatched  a 
few  weeks  before,  weighed  less  than  an  ounce. 

These  quantities  are  stated  on  the  supposition  that  the 
worms  are  uniformly  healthy.  If  many  of  them  should  die 
in  the  intermediate  time,  the  weights  mentioned  will  be  in 
excess.    On  the  other  hand,  if  the  season  should  be  wet,  the 

,  leaves  will  not  contain  the  usual  nourishment,  with  reference 
to  their  weight,  and  more  must  be  given ;  whereas,  if  the 

•season  should  prove  more  dry  than  ordinary,  the  nutriment  in 
the  leaves  will  be  greater,  and  the  quantity  given  may  be  di- 
minished with  advantage.  The  skill  of  the  cultivator  is 
shown  by  the  weight  of  silk  obtained  in  proportion  to  the 
leaves  consumed  ;  and  his  judgment  is  tasked  to  apportion 
these  according  to  their  nutritive  properties.  There  will  be 
no  real  economy  in  keeping  the  consumption  of  food  too  low : 
this,  however,  is  not  a  common  fault,  and  evils  occur  much 
more  frequently  from  over-feeding  and  waste  of  leaves. 

The  worms  should  be  fed  with  regularity  four  times  a 
day ;  and  intermediate  repasts  may  be  occasionally  given, 
where  their  appetites  appear  to  be  increased  in  voraciousness. 
The  advantage  of  chopping  the  leaves  for  young  worms  con- 
sists in  the  economy  it  introduces.  Many  thousand  insects 
may,  by  this  means,  feed  simultaneously  upon  a  few  ounces 
of  leaves ;  whose  fresh-cut  edges  seem  better  adapted  to 
their  powers  when  newly  hatched.  If  the  leaves  were  given 
to  them  whole,  a  much  greater  number  must  be  supplied  than 
would  be  consumed  while  their  freshness  lasted,  and  great 
waste  would  be  the  consequence.  The  worms  will  always 
quit  stale  leaves  for  those  which  are  newly  gathered.  Avail- 
ing themselves  of  this  fact,  some  persons  provide  wire-bot- 
tomed frames,  which  they  cover  with  fresh  leaves,  and  lower 
them  within  reach  of  the  worms.  These  instantly  make 
their  way  through  the  reticulations  of  the  wire,  and  fixing 
upon  the  leaves  above,  the  frame  may  be  raised  and  the  litter 
removed  without  touching  the  worms,  which  might  be  in- 
jured by  even  the  gentlest  handling.  This  plan,  as  it  oc- 
casions more  trouble,  does  not  appear  so  eligible  as  that  of 
Mr.  Swayne. 

When  the  silkworms  give  indications  that  they  are  about 
to  spin,  little  bushes  must  be  provided  for  the  purpose.  These 


120 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


may  be  of  broom,  heath,  clean  bean-stalks,  or,  in  short,  any 
bush  or  brushwood  that  is  tender  and  flexible.  These  should 
be  arranged  upright  in  rows  between  the  shelves,  with  inter- 
vals of  fifteen  inches  between  the  rows.  The  bushes  should 
be  so  high  as  to  be  bent  by  the  shelf  immediately  above  into 
the  form  of  an  arch.  They  should  be  so  spread  out,  that  a 
supply  of  air  should  freely  reach  every  part,  and  ample  space 
should  be  afforded  for  the  worms  to  fix  themselves  and  spin  ; 
otherwise,  there  is  great  hazard  of  their  forming  double  co- 
coons, in  which  two  worms  assist  in  the  preparation  of  one 
dwelling  for  both :  the  silk  in  these  is  so  much  less  adapted 
to  the  purposes  of  the  reeler,  that  a  double  cocoon  is  worth 
only  one  half  the  price  of  a  single  one.  Inattention  to  this 
point  is  very  common,  and  occasions  constant  losses.  When 
the  twigs  already  erected  appear  to  be  adequately  furnished 


Fig.  6. 


with  worms,  other  similar  hedges  should  be  formed,  parallel 
to  the  first.  The  spaces  between  the  shelves  will  thus  pre- 
sent the  appearance  of  small  avenues  or  arbors  covered  in  at 
the  top.* 

The  worms  at  this  time  require  much  careful  watching, 
and  occasional  assistance  must  be  afforded  to  those  which  are 
sluggish,  that  they  may  find  an  eligible  spot  for  forming  their 
cocoons.  Those  worms  which  appear  still  inclined  to  feed 
must  be  supplied  with  leaves :  so  long  as  the  slightest  incli- 
nation for  food  remains,  they  will  not  attempt  to  form  their 
cocoons.  It  will  sometimes  happen,  that  even  after  they 
have  climbed  among  the  branches  for  the  purpose  of  spinning, 
they  will  again  descend  to  satisfy  their  last  desire  for  food. 


*  Note  X. 


CHAP.  IV. 


SILKWORMS  IN  EUROPE. 


121 


"  I  have  seen  them,"  says  a  minute  observer,  "  stop  when  de- 
scending, and  remain  with  the  head  downwards,  the  wish  to 
eat  having  ceased  before  they  reached  the  bottom."  In  such 
a  case,  they  should  be  turned  with  their  heads  upwards,  as 
the  contrary  position  is  injurious  to  them.  If,  at  this  time, 
many  appear  weak  and  inert,  remaining  motionless  on  the 
leaves,  neither  eating  nor  giving  any  sign  of  rising  to  spin, 
some  means  must  be  taken  to  stimulate  them  to  the  exertion. 
It  was  the  ancient  practice  and  found  to  be  efficacious  for 
this  purpose,  to  convey  some  pungent  article,  such  as  fried 
onions,  into  the  apartment,  the  effluvia  from  which  revived 
the  worms,  inciting  some  to  take  their  last  meal,  and  in- 
ducing others,  whose  desire  for  food  had  ceased,  to  climb 
the  twigs  and  begin  their  labors.  The  same  end  is  now 
generally  and  Unfailingly  attained,  by  removing  the  sluggish 
worms  into  another  apartment,  the  temperature  of  which  is 
higher. 

All  these  minute  directions  may  perhaps  appear  frivolous ; 
but  it  is  only  by  an  unceasing  attention  to  these  and  the  like 
minutiae,  that  any  tolerable  success  can  be  secured.  When 
all  the  previous  cares  and  labors  of  an  establishment  have 
been  satisfactorily  accomplished,  if  the  hedges  be  not  well 
formed,  are  irregular,  or  too  thick  in  any  parts,  so  as  either 
to  impede  the  circulation  of  air,  or  too  far  to  limit  the  space 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  worms,  ill  success  will  be  sure 
to  follow.  Instead  of  the  proper  number  of  fine  single  co- 
coons, many  will  be  double,  others  imperfect  or  soiled,  and 
even  some  of  the  silkworms  will  be  suffocated  before  the 
completion  of  their  labors. 

It  is  essential,  in  every  age  of  the  wTorms,  to  attend  to  the 
regulation  of  temperature  in  their  apartments;  and  at  no 
time  is  this  more  necessary  than  while  they  are  forming 
their  cocoons.  If,  at  this  time,  they  are  exposed  to  much 
cold,  they  desist  from  their  labors.  Should  the  balls  be  suf- 
ficiently thin,  the  insects  may  be  discerned,  either  quite  in- 
active, or  moving  very  slowly.  On  the  temperature  being 
raised,  they  will  immediately  resume  their  work  with  re- 
newed activity,  and  will  once  more  desist,  if  the  cold  be 
again  allowed  to  exert  its  influence.  After  they  have  re- 
mained inactive  from  this  cause  for  a  short  time,  they  put  off 
their  caterpillar  form,  and  assume  that  of  the  chrysalis, 
without  having  sufficient  energy  to  complete  their  silken 
covering. 

The  fifth  volume  of  the  transactions  of  the  Society  for  the 
Encouragement  of  Arts,  &c.  contains  a  letter  upon  this  sub- 
L 


122 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  ir. 


ject  from  a  gentleman,  who  relates,  that  in  the  summer  of 
1786  he  had  successfully  reared  to  their  full  growth  more 
than  thirty  thousand  silkworms,  when  at  the  beginning  of 
July,  and  just  as  they  appeared  about  to  spin,  a  chilling  north- 
east wind  set  in,  and  many  of  the  worms  became  chrysalides, 
without  attempting  to  spin.  On  the  examination  of  these,  it 
appeared  that  the  glutinous  matter  in  their  silk  reservoirs 
had  become  so  congealed  by  the  cold,  as  to  resemble  strong 
tendons,  both  in  appearance  and  tenacity ;  which  sufficiently 
accounted  for  the  inability  of  the  insects  to  draw  forth  the 
silk  in  filaments.  Thousands  of  the  worms  changed  in  this 
profitless  manner  daily,  until  at  length,  the  survivors  being 
removed  into  an  apartment  artificially  warmed,  they  imme- 
diately applied  themselves  to  the  performance  of  their  usual 
functions.  It  is  desirable  that  while  silkworms  are  in  the 
act  of  spinning,  the  temperature  of  their  apartment  should 
be  maintained  as  high  as  70  degrees,  and  it  is  at  the  same 
time  equally  important  that  free  ventilation  should  be  secured. 

The  opinion  has  been  very  generally  entertained  that  vio- 
lent noise  disturbs,  and  injuriously  affects  the  worms,  and 
that  any  sudden  report,  as  of  fire-arms  or  thunder,  will  cause 
them  to  fall  from  their  arbors.  The  peasants  in  Italy  who 
attend  on  silkworms  are  so  strongly  of  this  opinion,  that  if 
the  caterpillars  omit  to  rise  and  spin  after  thunder  has  been 
heard,  they  consider  its  noise  as  the  sole  reason  of  the 
failure :  they  are  always  desirous  of  removing  every  cause 
for  noise  from  about  the  establishment.  This  opinion  appears, 
however,  to  be  badly  founded,  and  has  been  satisfactorily  re- 
futed by  persons  who  have  made  experiments  to  ascertain  the 
fact.  Silkworms  have  been  reared  in  all  the  bustle  of  a 
town,  exposed  to  the  barking  of  dogs,  and  to  concerts  of 
music,  without  in  any  way  exhibiting  signs  of  being  affected 
by  the  noise.  The  following  statement  is  conclusive.  It  is 
taken  from  the  "  Cours  d'Agriculture,"  written  by  Monsieur 
Rozier,  and  recounts  an  experiment  performed  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  Monsieur  Thome,  a  considerable  silk  cultivator, 
and  one  of  the  earliest  writers  on  the  subject.  These  gen- 
tlemen, Messrs.  Rozier  and  Thome,  in  the  presence  of 
many  witnesses,  fired  several  pistol-shots  in  the  apartment 
where  silkworms  were  either  spinning,  or  rising  preparatory 
to  their  labor ;  and  the  only  worm  that  dropped  was  evidently 
a  sickly  insect,  that  could  not  have  formed  its  cocoon  under 
any  circumstances. 

It  is  seldom  that  any  opinion  upon  a  point  of  practice  is 
entertained,  without  some  ground  for  its  existence.  The 


CHAP.  IV.  SILKWORMS  IN  EUROPE. 


123 


Italian  peasants,  although  certainly  wrong  in  attributing  any 
evil  effects  to  the  agency  of  noise,  might  have  been  correct 
had  they  ascribed  the  evil  to  that  great  accumulation  of  elec- 
tricity in  the  atmosphere  which  attends  the  discharge  of  the 
fluid,  from  one  cloud  which  is  overcharged  upon  another 
which  is  deficient;  or  which  accompanies  the  fluid  in  its 
passage  between  the  clouds  and  the  earth,  until  an  equilib- 
rium establishes  itself  in  the  mass.  "  Before  this  equilibrium 
is  gained,  however,"  says  Monsieur  Rozier,  "  we  know  that 
many  persons  exhibit  symptoms  of  strong  excitement,  falling 
into  convulsions,  or  even  being  affected  by  fever.  Is  it,  then, 
surprising,  that  insects  charged  with  a  matter  so  highly 
electric  as  silk  should  become  oppressed  or  overpowered  by 
the  superaddition  of  that  which  they  receive  from  the  atmo- 
sphere ]"  The  peasants  in  the  silk  provinces  of  France  have 
long  been  accustomed  to  place  pieces  of  iron  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  insects.  If  asked  to  assign  their  motive  for  this, 
their  reply  is,  that  their  fathers  and  grandfathers  did  so  be- 
fore them,  and  that  therefore  the  practice  must  be  desirable. 
May  we  not  imagine  that  this  custom  had  its  rise  from  the 
remarks  of  some  philosophic  observer  of  the  laws  of  nature, 
and  who,  under  other  and  more  favorable  circumstances, 
might  have  been  led,  by  generalizing,  to  anticipate  the  dis- 
coveries of  Franklin  1 

Monsieur  Rozier,  in  the  work  already  quoted,  recommend- 
ed the  use  of  metallic  conductors ;  and  himself  proved  their 
efficacy.  In  connexion  with  some  shelves  containing  silk- 
worms, he  placed  thin  iron  wires,  and  carried  them  through 
the  wall  into  a  cistern  of  water.  The  remaining  shelves 
were,  in  every  other  respect,  similarly  circumstanced  to 
these ;  but  he  uniformly  found  that,  when  thus  protected,  the 
worms  were  decidedly  more  healthy  and  active  than  those 
unprovided  with  conductors. 


124 


SILK  MANUFACTURE, 


PART  TI. 


CHAR  V. 

GATHERING  AND  SORTING  COCOONS. 

Method  of  Gathering —Sorting.— Selecting  for  Seed.— Proportion  set  apart 
for  Breeding.— Methods  of  destroying  Vitality  of  Chrysalides.— By  the 
Solar  Rays.— In  Ovens— By  Steam  Heat.— Preservation  of  Cocoons. — 
Separation  of  Damaged. — Good  Cocoons. — Pointed  Cocoons. — Cocaloii3. 
— Dupions. — Soufflons. — Perforated  Cocoons. — Choquettes.— Calcined  Co- 
coons.— Their  Relative  Value.— Proportion  of  Pure  Silk  in  Cocoons. — 
Proportional  Weight  of  Eggs  and  Cocoons;  and  of  Mulberry  Leaves. — 
Quantity  of  Reeled  Silk  from  each  Cocoon. — Weight  and  Size. — Labor 
required.— Deductions. 

In  either  three  or  four  days  from  the  commencement  of  its 
labors  the  silkworm  completes  its  cocoon,  and  in  seven  or 
eight  days  thereafter  the  balls  are  gathered.  Some  persons 
do  not  wait  longer  than  three  or  four  days  ere  they  reap  their 
silken  harvest. 

It  is  usual  to  begin  by  gathering  from  the  lower  tier  of 
arbors.  In  this  proceeding  no  violence  should  be  used  to 
disengage  the  twigs,  which  must  be  gently  handled,  and  con- 
signed to  those  whose  employment  it  is  to  separate  the  co- 
coons. These  persons,  as  they  pick  off  the  balls,  sort  them; 
selecting  those  which  are  to  be  preserved  for  continuing  the 
breed,  and  putting  into  distinct  baskets  all  fine  cocoons,  those 
which  are  double,  soiled,  or  anywise  imperfect.  The  fine 
and  well-formed  balls  are  again  subdivided  into  white  and 
yellow,  the  latter  color  embracing  every  shade  from  the 
deepest  yellow  to  those  which  are  merely  tinged.  A  very 
few  will  sometimes  be  found  having  a  pale-green  hue.  The 
cocoons  of  a  bright  yellow  yield  a  greater  weight  of  reeled 
silk  than  the  others,  but  as  their  deeper  color  results  from  the 
greater  proportion  of  gum  wherein  the  coloring  matter  prin- 
cipally resides,  any  advantage  from  this  source  accrues  only 
to  the  grower,  the  gummy  substance  being  all  boiled  out 
previous  to  the  weaving  of  the  silk. 

Raw  silk  which  is  of  pale  color  is  found  to  take  certain 
dyes  better,  and  is  on  that  account  very  generally  preferred. 

The  selection  of  chrysalides  for  breeding  is  made  from 
such  cocoons  as  are  perfectly  sound,  and  whose  threads  ap- 
ear  to  be  fine ;  having  their  ends  round  and  compact ;  and 
eing  a  little  depressed  in  the  middle,  as  if  tightened  by  a 
ring  or  ligature.  The  reason  given  for  attention  to  these 
particulars,  is  the  belief  that  worms  producing  such  balls  are 
of  the  strongest  constitutions.    Count  Dandolo  was  of  opin- 


CHAP.  V.     GATHERING  AND  SORTING  COCOONS.  125 

ion  that  too  much  stress  is  laid  upon  this  point,  and  that  all 
cocoons  which  are  perfectly  formed  are  alike  desirable  for 
breeding.  For  this  purpose  an  equal  number  of  males  and 
females  must  be  preserved.  The  former  are  distinguisha- 
ble by  being  sharper  at  the  ends,  and  this,  although  not  an 
unerring  guide,  proves  sufficiently  correct  for  all  practical 
purposes.  These  cocoons  are  sometimes  spread  in  thin 
layers  on  tables :  but  it  seems  a  better  practice,  and  one 
more  generally  adopted,  to  string  them  together  on  a 
thread,  care  being  taken  not  to  pass  the  needle  too  deep  into 
the  silk.  These  strings,  three  or  four  feet  in  length,  are 
then  hung  in  festoons  out  of  the  reach  of  vermin.  The  floss 
is,  in  this  case,  usually  removed,  as  it  is  found  to  oppose  ad- 
ditional difficulty  to  the  moth  in  its  extrication. 

In  making  the  selection  of  cocoons  for  breeding,  so  as  to 
insure  the  object  of  maintaining  the  numbers  of  his  silk- 
worms, the  cultivator  considers  it  necessary  to  set  apart  one 
sixtieth  of  his  whole  produce.  This  shows  how  considerable 
must  be  the  loss  sustained  in  this  branch  of  the  pursuit.  If 
all  the  eggs  produced  by  this  proportion  were  found  produc- 
tive, the  brood  would  by  their  means  be  trebled  in  the  fol- 
lowing season. 

The  next  proceeding  is  that  of  destroying  the  vitality  of  the 
chrysalides  in  those  cocoons  which  are  to  be  reeled.  Various 
methods  are  employed  for  this  purpose,  according  to  the  nature 
of  the  climate ;  the  solar  rays  being  in  some  instances  found 
sufficient,  no  artificial  means  need  be  then  resorted  to.  In  this 
case,  a  calm  and  cloudless  day  is  chosen,  and  the  cocoons  are 
left  exposed  to  the  scorching  beams  of  the  sun,  during  four  or 
five  hours  in  the  middle  of  the  day.  They  are  next  closely 
enwrapt  in  coarse  cloths  which  have  been  exposed  to  the 
same  heat,  black  cloths  being  chosen  preferably  on  account 
of  their  absorbing  a  greater  quantum  of  heat.  These  pro- 
cesses being  repeated  during  several  days,  the  destruction  of 
the  insect  is  usually  attained.  It  is  not  safe,  however, 
without  examination,  to  confide  in  its  efficacy ;  for  this  trial 
a  few  chrysalides  must  be  stripped  and  pricked  with  a  needle. 
If  upon  this  they  give  no  sign  of  animation,  it  may  be  safely 
concluded  that  their  suffocation  has  been  perfected. 

In  more  temperate  regions  artificial  means  must  necessa- 
rily be  employed,  and  recourse  is  therefore  had  to  the  heat 
of  steam,  or  of  an  oven ;  and  most  frequently  the  latter  meth- 
od is  adopted,  although  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the 
other,  provided  it  could  be  efficaciously  applied  by  means 
of  convenient  apparatus,  would  be  more  quick  and  certain 


126 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


jPART  II* 


in  its  operation,  as  well  as  productive  of  less  injury  to  the 
texture  of  the  silk.  When  the  oven  is  used,  the  cocoons  are 
placed  in  long  shallow  baskets,  filled  to  within  an  inch  of 
their  tops,  and  covered,  first  with  paper,  and  then  with  a 
cloth  wrapper.  The  heat  of  the  oven  wherein  the  baskets 
are  disposed  has  not  been  more  precisely  defined,  than  that  it 
should  be  very  nearly  that  of  an  oven  from  which  loaves  of 
bread  have  just  been  taken  after  being  baked.  The  worms 
are  exposed  to  this  heat  during  an  hour ;  and  on  their  being 
withdrawn,  it  is  ascertained  by  the  examination  of  chrysalides, 
taken  from  the  centre  of  each  basket,  whether  the  vitality  of 
the  worms  is  destroyed.  Those  chosen  for  examination  hav- 
ing been,  from  their  position,  the  least  exposed  to  the  heat,  it 
is  fairly  presumed  that  if  these  be  dead  the  whole  are  equally 
destroyed.  On  their  removal  from  the  oven,  the  baskets  are 
wrapped  in  woollen  cloths  or  blankets,  and  piled  on  each 
other.  If  the  baking  has  been  properly  conducted,  the  blank- 
ets will  soon  appear  profusely  covered  with  moisture,  and  if 
this  should  not  be  seen,  the  baking  has  been  either  excessive 
or  insufficient.  If  too  great,  the  worms  and  cocoons  will  have 
been  previously  so  much  dried  as  to  leave  no  further  moisture 
to  transude;  if  too  little,  the  heat  has  not  sufficiently  pene- 
trated to  distil  the  liquor  which  the  chrysalides  contain,  and 
the  worms,  in  that  case,  will  not  be  deprived  of  vitality. 

It  is  obvious  that  very  great  nicety  is  required  to  limit  the 
degree  of  heat  to  the  exact  point  that  will  kill  the  chrysalides, 
and  it  is  of  great  importance  that  this  point  shall  not  be  ex? 
ceeded,  as  the  silken  filaments  would  by  such  means  be  in* 
jured.  For  this  reason  steam  would  doubtless  be  much 
more  frequently  used,  if  any  simple  apparatus  were  intro* 
duced  for  the  purpose.  Where  this  agent  is  now  employed, 
its  efficiency  is  so  limited  that  the  operation  is  troublesome 
and  the  result  uncertain. 

A  large  wooden  vessel  is  provided,  into  which  boiling1  water 
is  poured  to  the  depth  of  two  feet  This  vessel  has  within  it 
a  wicker  hurdle,  entirely  covering  the  water,  and  supported 
about  one  inch  distant  from  its  surface.  The  bottom  of  this 
hurdle  is  provided  with  a  coarse  porous  cloth,  easily  pene- 
trable by  steam :  on  this  the  cocoons  are  placed,  and  are  cov- 
ered well  over  to  confine  the  heat.  When  the  water  has  be- 
come so  cool  that  it  no  longer  emits  a  body  of  steam,  it  must 
be  changed  for  other  boiling  water ;  and  it  is  considered  ne- 
cessary to  continue  this  steaming  process  for  two  hours,  be- 
fore the  destruction  of  the  chrysalides  can  be  considered  cer- 
tain.    If  steam  were  differently  applied,  a  few  njinuteg 


CHAP.  V,     GATHERING  AND  SORTING  COCOONS.  127 

would  suffice  for  perfecting  this  object.  The  cocoons,  when 
removed  from  the  steaming"  vessel,  are  covered  over  with  the 
same  care  as  is  employed  after  baking,  and  they  are  left  to 
cool  very  gradually.  After  this  they  are  spread  out  in  the 
air  and  sun  to  dissipate  the  moisture  they  have  imbibed.* 

It  is  always  desirable,  where  time  can  be  allotted  to  the 
purpose,  that  the  process  of  reeling  should  be  performed  with- 
out the  delay  which  renders  this  destruction  of  the  worms  ne- 
cessary. This,  in  large  establishments,  is  evidently  imprac- 
ticable as  regards  any  very  considerable  proportion  of  the 
produce  ;  but  it  must  be  always  performable  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent ;  and  it  is  proper  to  give  the  preference,  in  this  respect, 
to  such  cocoons  as  appear  the  weakest:  the  others,  which 
contain  a  greater  proportion  of  gum,  are  thence  better  quali- 
fied to  sustain  heat  without  injury. 

When  the  process,  however  conducted,  for  destroying  the 
worms  has  been  perfected,  the  cocoons  are  placed  on  shelves, 
and  must  be  continually  turned  and  looked  over,  lest  they 
should  become  mouldy.  If  any  appear  spotted  or  otherwise 
damaged,  they  must  be  separated  to  prevent  the  injury 
spreading  to  those  balls  with  which  they  are  in  contact,  and 
should  be  immediately  reeled  to  stay  the  progress  of  their 
own  destruction.  Large  establishments  for  producing  silk 
comprise  in  them  buildings  exclusively  appropriated  to  this 
purpose,  and  which  are  called  coconieres.  These  are  rooms 
fitted  up  with  ranges  of  shelves  from  two  to  three  feet  above 
<eacfh  other,  and  the  whole  are  insulated  from  the  walls  and 
;roof,  lest  the  place  should  be  invaded  by  rats  or  mice,  which 
would  infallibly  destroy  the  cocoons  in  their  eagerness  to 
,reach  the  chrysalides,  of  which  they  are  immoderately  fond. 
;.Still  farther  to  guard  against  this  havoc,  the  legs  of  the 
framing  which  supports  the  shelves  should  be  enveloped  in 
jsome  furzy  or  prickly  substance. 

After  the  separation  of  cocoons  for  breeding,  the  gathering 
is  divided  into  nine  different  qualities. 

1.  Good  cocoons  are  those  which  have  been  brought  to  pre- 
fection :  these  are  by  no  means  the  largest,  but  are  compact 
and  free  from  spots. 

2.  Pointed  cocoons  have  one  extremity  rising  in  a  point  : 
these,  after  affording  a  little  silk  in  reeling,  break  or  tear  at 
the  point  where  the  thread  is  weak,  and  they  cannot  be  wound 
further,  as  their  fracture  would  occur  as  often  as  the  thread 
reached  the  weak  point. 


*  Note  Y. 


128 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


3.  Cocalons  are  rather  larger  than  regular  cocoons,  but  do 
not  contain  more  silk,  their  texture  being  less  compact. 
These  are  separated  from  the  other  kinds,  because  in  winding 
they  must  be  immersed  in  colder  water,  to  avoid  any  furzing 
or  entangling  in  the  operation. 

4.  Dupions  or  double  cocoons.  The  threads  of  these  are 
so  intertwined,  that  frequent  breakings  occur  in  reeling,  and 
sometimes  they  cannot  be  wound  at  all.  In  any  parcel  of 
cocoons  the  proportion  of  these  will  usually  amount  to  one 
per  cent. 

5.  Soufflons.  These  are  very  imperfect  cocoons,  with  a 
loose  contexture,  sometimes  even  to  so  great  a  degree  as  to 
be  transparent :  these  cannot  be  wound. 

6.  Perforated  cocoons,  as  their  name  denotes,  have  a  hole 
in  the  end,  and  for  that  reason  cannot  be  reeled,  as  the  fila- 
ment is  found  to  be  broken  whenever  it  arrives  at  the  per- 
foration. 

7.  Good  choquettes  are  cocoons  wherein  the  insects  have 
died  before  perfecting  their  task.  These  are  known  by  the 
adhesion  of  the  worm  to  the  cocoon,  which  prevents  its  rat- 
tling when  shaken.  The  silk  of  these  is  as  fine  as  of  the 
first-mentioned  quality,  but  not  so  strong  nor  so  brilliant,  and 
they  must  be  wound  separately,  as  they  sometimes  furze  in 
reeling. 

8.  Bad  choquettes  are  defective  cocoons,  spotted  or  rotten. 
They  furnish  foul  bad  silk,  and  of  a  blackish  color. 

9.  Calcined  cocoons  are  those  wherein  the  worms,  after 
having  completed  their  cells,  are  attacked  by  a  peculiar  dis- 
ease, which  sometimes  petrifies  them,  and  at  other  times  re- 
duces them  to  a  white  powder.  In  the  former  case  they  are 
called  comfit  cocoons,  from  the  resemblance  which  is  borne 
by  the  withered  worm  to  a  sugar-plum.  The  quality  of  the 
silk,  so  far  from  being  injured  by  this  means,  is  generally 
excellent,  and  is  even  in  greater  quantity  than  in  the  cocoons 
of  healthy  worms.  Comfit  cocoons  may  be  distinguished  by 
the  peculiar  rattling  noise  of  the  worm  when  shaken :  they 
are  so  much  esteemed  in  Piedmont,  that  they  sell  for  one 
half  more  than  good  cocoons.  They  are  not  of  frequent  oc- 
currence, and  it  is  very  rarely  that  so  large  a  parcel  as  twen- 
ty-five pounds  is  met  with. 

The  cocoons  of  the  mountains  are  considered  better  than 
those  produced  on  the  plains :  there  is  a  greater  proportion 
of  white  found  among  them ;  and  although  the  balls  are  not 
so  large,  the  worm  is  proportionally  smaller  than  usual. 

The  relative  value  of  cocoons,  as  stated  in  the  paper  al- 


CHAP.  V.     GATHERING  AND  SORTING  COCOONS. 


129 


ready  quoted  from  the  American  Philosophical  Transactions, 
is  as  follows : — 

Good  cocoons  -  -  -  100 

Perforated  33* 

Soufflons  -  25 

Royal  cocoons,  for  seed  250 

Royal  cocoons,  not  chosen  for  seed  200 

Cocoons  lose  in  weight  about  1\  per  cent,  in  the  course  of 
ten  days  by  the  desiccation  of  the  chrysalis  :  to  those,  there- 
fore, who  sell  their  cocoons  previously  to  reeling,  it  is  an  ad- 
vantage to  dispose  of  them  as  soon  as  gathered.  In  1000 
ounces  of  perfect  cocoons,  the  chrysalides  weigh  845  ounces, 
the  envelopes  cast  by  the  worms  on  becoming  chrysalides  4£, 
and  the  pure  cocoon  150£  ounces.  Thus  each  healthy  co- 
coon, as  it  is  gathered,  contains  more  than  the  seventh  part 
of  pure  cocoon ;  but  the  quantity  of  reeled  silk  obtained  sel- 
dom averages  more  than  one  twelfth  in  weight  of  the  gather- 
ed cocoons.  Mayet  reckons,  that  if  they  are  of  superior 
quality,  ten  pounds  of  cocoons  will  produce  one  pound  of  silk ; 
but  that  it  more  generally  requires  eleven  or  twelve  pounds 
as  gathered  to  yield  that  quantity.  The  same  author  like- 
wise estimates  250  cocoons  to  weigh  one  pound :  count  Dan- 
dolo  found  that  240  of  his  made  up  that  weight. 

If  no  loss  be  sustained  either  in  hatching  the  eggs  or  in 
rearing  the  worms,  it  is  possible  to  obtain  from  each  ounce 
of  eggs  165  pounds'  weight  of  cocoons:  whatever  less  in 
weight  is  derived  from  this  quantity  of  eggs  indicates  the 
exact  amount  of  loss  and  damage  sustained.  In  some  parts 
of  Italy,  where  the  mode  of  management  is  very  defective, 
only  45  pounds  of  cocoons  are  obtained  from  each  ounce  of 
eggs :  the  average  quantity  is  about  100  pounds.  Count 
Dandolo  usually  acquired  on  his  establishment,  from  this 
weight  of  eggs,  about  140  pounds  of  fine  picked  cocoons,  in 
addition  to  the  coarse  floss  with  which  they  were  surrounded. 

In  the  year  1790,  the  Society  for  the  Encouragement  of 
Arts,  &c.  adjudged  their  gold  medal  to  Mr.  Salvator  Berte- 
zen,  for  his  having  produced  five  pounds'  weight  of  silk  from 
worms  reared  in  England.  This  gentleman  professed  to  have 
a  superior  breed  of  worms,  and  that  his  manner  of  managing 
them  was  also  better  than  that  usually  followed.  The  above 
quantity  of  silk,  which  was  wound  in  seven  to  nine  fibres, 
was  said  to  be  the  produce  of  12,000  worms.  This  fact  was 
much  controverted  at  the  time,  and  the  quantity  was  deemed 
excessive  with  reference  to  the  number  of  worms  ;  but  there 
now  appears  to  be  little  reason  for  doubting  its  correctness, 


130 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


as  the  proportion  very  nearly  agrees  with  the  recorded  expe- 
rience of  count  Dandolo.* 

This  nobleman  gives  many  elaborate  calculations  in  his 
volume,  the  results  of  some  of  which  may  be  found  interest- 
ing. According  to  his  experience,  about  97|  pounds  of  mul- 
berry leaves  will  suffice  for  the  production  of  7|  pounds  of  co- 
coons ;  these  will  yield  about  18  ounces  of  pure  cocoon,  from 
which  only  10  ounces  of  reeled  silk  are  generally  obtained. 
Thus  the  proportion  between  the  weight  of  mulberry  leaves 
consumed,  and  that  of  the  pure  cocoon  produced,  is  about  87 
to  1 ;  and  the  proportional  weight  of  mulberry  leaf  and  of 
reeled  silk  is  as  152  to  1.  The  ratio  between  the  quantity 
of  reeled  silk  drawn  from  the  cocoon  and  the  cocoon  itself, 
may  be  greatly  affected  by  the  good  or  ill  management  to 
which  the  worm  is  subjected. 

In  the  year  1814,  when  the  season  was  extremely  unfa- 
vorable to  the  rearing  of  silkworms,  the  count  obtained  15 
ounces  of  very  fine  silk  from  1\  pounds  of  cocoons,  and  13 
ounces  from  the  same  weight  of  refuse  cocoons.  This  fact 
speaks  very  highly  for  his  excellent  management.  The  pro- 
portion between  the  weight  of  silk  which  can  be  reeled,  and 
the  coarse  floss  which  can  only  be  spun,  should,  in  perfect 
cocoons,  be  in  the  average  ratio  of  19  to  1.  In  addition  to 
this  proportion  of  refuse  floss,  there  is  likewise  to  be  gathered 
the  outer  floss,  which  is  a  loose,  furzy  texture,  spun  by  the 
worms  preparatory  to  the  formation  of  their  balls :  the  nature 
of  this  substance,  together  with  the  injury  that  it  sustains  in 
its  disengagement  from  the  arbors,  entirely  prevent  its  being 
reeled.  It  is  usually  in  the  proportion  of  about  four  to  eleven 
with  the  silk  of  the  cocoon. 

The  weight  and  length  of  reeled  silk  that  can  be  obtained 
from  each  cocoon  are  very  variously  stated  by  different  au- 
thors :  in  fact,  the  quantity  is  found  to  vary  considerably,  de- 
pending on  many  circumstances  attendant  on  its  formation. 
Some  statements  on  the  subject  have  been  extravagantly  ab- 
surd. Among  others,  Isnard,  an  old  author,  who  has  been 
before  quoted,  and  whose  delight  in  the  marvellous  has,  on 
this  point,  found  rivals  even  in  the  present  day,  affirms  that 
the  silk  of  one  cocoon,  when  drawn  out,  will  measure  six 
miles  in  length,  that  is  10,560  yards !  Count  Dandolo,  at 
once,  contracts  this  measurement  more  within  the  limits  of 
probability.  He  found  that  a  silkworm's  labors  seldom  ex- 
ceed the  production  of  625  yards  ;f  an  astonishing  quan- 


*  Note  Z, 


1  1760  French  feet, 


« 


CHAP.  V.     GATHERING  AND  SORTING  COCOONS.  131 

tity,  when  we  reflect  upon  the  brief  period  employed  by  so 
small  a  creature  in  its  production.  Surely  it  is  unnecessary 
to  call  in  the  aid  of  exaggeration  more  highly  to  excite  our 
wonder. 

Miss  Rhodes  of  Yorkshire  found  that  one  of  her  largest 
cocoons  measured  404  yards.  Pullein  considers  the  average 
to  be  300  yards.  Miss  Rhodes  found  that  her  cocoons  weigh- 
ed three  grains  each.  Count  Dandolo  calculates  the  weight 
to  be  3  jVn  grains,  equal  to  about  3|  English  grains. 

The  size  of  an  ordinary  cocoon  of  good  quality  is  about 
an  inch  in  its  largest  diameter,  and  one  third  less  in  its  small- 
est diameter.  The  largest  diameter  of  dupions  is  an  inch 
and  a  quarter,  and  their  smallest  diameter  three  quarters  of 
an  inch. 

The  attendance  required  for  the  care  of  silkworms  does 
not  wholly  occupy  the  time  of  those  employed,  and  it  is, 
therefore,  difficult  to  ascertain  its  amount  with  correctness. 
Pullein  states,  that  for  rearing  the  worms  produced  from  six 
ounces  of  eggs  two  attendants  are  necessary  until  the  fourth 
age,  and  that  after  this  period  five  or  six  persons  are  required. 
Count  Dandolo,  with  his  accustomed  accuracy,  reduces  the 
time  required  for  attendance  upon  the  produce  of  five  ounces 
of  eggs  to  an  equality  with  one  hundred  days*  continuous 
labor  of  one  individual. 

From  these  data  it  is  found,  that  to  obtain  one  pound  of 
reeled  silk  it  requires  12  pounds  of  cocoons;  that  rather 
more  than  2800  worms  are  employed  in  forming  these  co- 
coons; and  that  to  feed  these  during  their  caterpillar  state, 
152  pounds  of  mulberry  leaves  must  be  gathered.  This 
pound  of  reeled  silk  is  capable  of  being  converted  into  six- 
teen yards  of  gros  de  Naples  of  ordinary  quality,  or  into  four- 
teen yards  of  the  best  description. 

Experience  has  shown  that  some  regulation  of  temperature 
is  necessary  in  producing  the  moths  from  the  cocoons.  If 
the  heat  in  which  these  are  placed  be  above  73°,  their  tran- 
sition would  be  too  rapid,  and  their  productiveness  would  be 
lessened:  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  temperature  be  below 
66°,  the  development  of  the  moths  is  tardy,  and  their  pro- 
duce equally  falls  below  the  due  proportion. 

The  moths  should  begin  to  issue  from  their  concealment 
in  about  fifteen  days.  The  female  deposits  her  eggs  upon 
sheets  of  paper,  or  strips  of  linen,  which  are  then  hung  in  a 
cool  situation,  and  when  dry  are  preserved  in  an  airy  place, 
and  securely  shielded  from  damp  and  from  vermin.  In 
making  choice  of  a  situation  wherein  to  store  these  eggs  for 


132 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


the  winter,  although  it  is  necessary  to  keep  them  cool,  tha,t 
premature  hatching  may  be  avoided,  it  is,  on  the  other  hand, 
indispensably  requisite  to  preserve  them  from  too  intense  a 
degree  of  cold :  a  temperature  wherein  water  will  freeze 
would  be  infallibly  destructive  of  their  vitality. 


CHAP.  VI. 

DISEASES  OF  SILKWORMS. 

General  result  from  Bad  Treatment.— Silkworms  frequently  reared  in  Cot* 
tages  of  Peasants. — Count  Dandolo. — His  great  Improvements. — Dando- 
lieres. — Mephitic  Air. — Moisture. — Experiments. — Jaundice. — Remedy.— 
Chlorine  Gas. — Chloride  of  Lime. — Fumigation. — Light  not  injurious. — 
Description  of  Apartments  allotted  to  Silkworms  in  Cottages.— Ill  Ef- 
fects which  arise  to  their  Attendants. 

The  silkworm  is  said  to  be  subject  to  many  diseases. 
There  is  reason  for  believing  that  most  or  all  these  are 
either  the  consequences  of  bad  treatment,  or  are  easily  coun- 
teracted by  simple  remedies.  Count  Dandolo,  to  whose  re- 
corded experience  reference  has  so  often  been  made  in  these 
pages,  was  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  other  cultivators  for 
the  means  of  describing  diseases  that  did  not  exist  in  his 
own  establishment. 

The  custom  which  prevails  in  Italy  and  France  of  dis- 
tributing silkworms  to  be  reared  in  the  dwellings  of  the 
peasantry  has  confined  the  management  principally  to  the 
hands  of  ignorance  and  prejudice ;  and  little  or  no  improve- 
ment had  in  consequence  been  made  in  this  part  of  rural 
economy  until  count  Dandolo  devoted  himself  to  its  reforma- 
tion, and  thereby  promoted  a  branch  of  industry  highly  im- 
portant to  the  prosperity  of  his  native  country.  This  noble- 
man pursued  the  occupation  with  patriotic  and  philosophic 
aims  far  different  from  such  as  usually  characterize  pursuits 
of  business.  He  brought  scientific  knowledge  and  enlight- 
ened views  to  the  subject,  and  afforded  a  clear  exemplifica- 
tion of  the  fact,  that  there  is  no  process,  however  simple,  no 
employments,  however  humble,  and  which  might  apparently 
be  consigned  without  injury  to  the  hands  of  the  untaught 
and  unreflecting,  that  do  not  call  for  the  head  as  well  as  the 
hand  of  man,  to  conduct  them  on  rational  principles,  and  to 
derive  from  them  all  the  beneficial  results  they  may  be  made 
capable  of  yielding.  It  is  seldom  that  objects  of  profit  are 
thus  undertaken  and  pursued.  It  most  generally  happeni, 
that  toils  of  this  nature  are  assumed  from  necessity,  by  per- 


CHAP.  VI. 


DISEASES  OF  SILKWORMS. 


133 


sons  who  think  only  of  rendering  them  subservient  to  the 
calls  of  that  necessity ;  who  have  neither  mind  nor  leisure 
for  experiments ;  and  who,  if,  by  departing  from  the  beaten 
track,  they  have  made  a  greater  proficiency  than  their  rivals, 
are  too  prone  to  keep  secret  their  discoveries  with  a  view  to 
individual  advantage.  Count  Dandolo  was  not  thus  satisfied 
to  find  out  and  to  pursue  the  most  advantageous  methods,  but 
widely  disseminated  the  knowledge  of  his  mode  of  treatment, 
not  only  by  his  writings,  but  by  inviting  the  great  proprie- 
tors, his  countrymen,  to  send  pupils  to  him,  who  might  ob- 
tain practical  instruction  in  his  methods.  These  pupils 
sometimes  occasioned  great  losses  to  him,  as  in  order  to 
their  acquiring  the  necessary  degree  of  skill,  they  were 
sometimes  allowed  to  act  upon  their  own  suggestions.  "But 
this  signifies  little,"  he  would  say,  "  compared  to  the  advan- 
tage of  diffusing  and  naturalizing  the  improved  art  of  rear- 
ing silkworms  by  means  of  these  pupils."  Shortly  after  the 
publication  of  his  treatise,  large  establishments  were  formed 
in  Lombardy,  according  to  his  recommendation  :  these  were 
called  Dandolieres,  as  a  testimony  of  respect  for  his  disinter- 
ested philanthropy. 

The  causes  which  principally  engender  diseases  in  the 
silkworm  appear  to  exist  in  either  damp,  stagnate,  or  me- 
phitic  air.  Some  experiments  tried  in  order  to  ascertain  the 
fact  show  that  damp  air  is  even  more  prejudicial  to  them 
than  mephitic  (carbonic  acid)  gas.  If  a  silkworm  be  intro- 
duced into  a  receiver  charged  with  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  in 
which  a  bird  would  instantly  die,  although  the  worm  quickly 
exhibits  signs  of  uneasiness  and  suffering,  it  will  live  for  ten, 
fifteen,  or  perhaps  twenty  minutes ;  no  warm-blooded  animal 
could  continue  alive  in  such  an  atmosphere  for  half  that 
time.  If,  after  remaining  a  few  minutes,  the  worm  be  with- 
drawn from  the  receiver,  it  will  not  exhibit  any  sign  of  in- 
jury, but  will  be,  apparently,  as  healthy  as  before  inhaling 
this  pernicious  gas.  The  silkworm  appears  endued  with  the 
power  to  seize  upon  the  minutest  portion  of  vital  air  which 
may  be  held  by  water,  as  it  will  live  for  some  minutes  im- 
mersed in  this  fluid,  particularly  in  its  first  ages ;  and,  even 
when  seemingly  dead,  it  will  revive  if  taken  out.  It  would 
seem,  however,  that  when  its  power  of  breathing  is  obstruct- 
ed, the  worm  instantly  dies :  if,  instead  of  plunging  it  in 
carbonic  acid  gas,  or  in  water,  its  eighteen  breathing  holes 
are  sealed  up  with  grease,  it  expires  instantaneously. 

If  a  healthy  silkworm  be  confined  in  a  vessel,  the  air  in 
which  is  charged  with  moisture,  and  heated  to  the  tempera- 

M 


134 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II 


ture  of  88°  or  90°,  it  will  very  soon  exhibit  symptoms  of  in- 
disposition, and  reject  food  ;  the  skin  will  slacken,  the  mus- 
cles soften,  and  contraction  cease.  In  a  short  time  evapora- 
tion will  be  obstructed,  the  secretions  indispensable  to  vital- 
ity, which  are  effected  in  this  animal  by  means  of  contrac- 
tion,* will  be  suspended,  and  ere  long  it  will  perish.  A 
warm-blooded  animal,  on  the  contrary,  if  sufficiently  supplied 
with  pure  air,  can  live  without  any  suffering,  and  perform 
all  its  functions  without  inconvenience,  in  such  a  tempera- 
ture, whatever  be  the  attendant  degree  of  moisture.  This 
proves  how  different  is  the  structure  of  these  two  classes  of 
animals. 

In  the  southern  departments  of  France,  it  is  very  common 
to  see  silkworms  attacked  by  a  disease  which,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  color  assumed  by  them,  is  called  the  jaundice. 
Very  careful  examination  is  continually  made  for  the  discov- 
ery and  removal  of  worms  which  may  be  thus  attacked,  lest 
the  disease,  which  is  contagious,  should  spread  to  others.  It 
is  stated  in  the  Bulletin  Universel,  that  the  abbe  Eperic  of 
Carpentras  had  recourse  in  this  case  to  a  remedy,  or  rather  a 
preventive,  which,  though  apparently  dangerous,  has  been 
justified  by  the  uniform  success  of  twenty  years.  By  means 
of  a  fine  silk  sieve  he  powdered  his  worms  with  quicklime, 
and  after  this  gave  them  mulberry  leaves  moistened  with  a 
few  drops  of  wine;  these  the  insects  instantly  commenced 
devouring  with  an  eagerness  greater  than  that  which  they 
usually  exhibited,  and  not  one  of  the  hurdles  upon  which 
the  worms  were  thus  treated  ever  appeared  infected  with 
jaundice.  It  was  at  first  supposed  that  the  cocoons  might 
be  injured  by  this  process;  but  this  is  not  the  case,  and  the 
method  is  now  very  frequently  adopted  in  the  department  of 
Vaucluse. 

It  is  well  known  that  decayed  leaves  emit  mephitic  air 
abundantly,  and  the  lime  may  have  been  efficacious  in  absorb- 
ing and  fixing  this  as  it  was  generated,  leaving  the  atmo- 
sphere inhaled  by  the  insects  in  a  desirable  state  of  purity.f 
.  Mons.  Blanchard  records  the  following  experiment,  which 
satisfactorily  proves  the  efficacy  of  the  use  of  lime : — "  I  pro- 
cured," he  said,  "  four  glass  jars,  nine  inches  deep  and  five  in 
diameter,  and  provided  them  with  cork  stoppers.  In  each  of 
these  glasses  I  placed  twelve  silkworms  at  their  second  age ; 


*  The  skin  of  the  silkworm  has  so  great  a  power  of  contraction,  that  on 
being  cut  through  it  shrinks  in  the  manner  of  an  elastic  substance  that 
has  been  drawn  out. 

t  Note  A  A, 


CHAP.  VI.  DISEASES  OP  SILKWORMS.  135 


these  were  fed  four  times  a  day,  and  I  confined  them  in  this 
kind  of  prison  all  their  lives,  without  taking  away  either 
their  dead  companions  or  their  litter.  I  sprinkled  with  lime 
the  worms  of  only  two  of  these  jars,  and  kept  the  two  others 
to  compare  with  them.  In  those  without  lime,  I  never  ob- 
tained more,  or  less  than  three,  small  and  imperfect  cocoons, 
and  in  the  two  that  were  sprinkled  with  lime  I  had  very  often 
twelve,  and  never  less  than  nine  fine  full-sized  firm  co- 
coons.' '  Mons.  Blanchard  ascertained,  by  many  trials,  that 
the  worms  were  not  incommoded  when  covered  with  a  large 
portion  of  lime. 

Count  Dandolo  advises  fumigation  with  chlorine  gas  ;  but 
the  mode  of  producing  this  from  black  oxide  of  manganese, 
common  salt,  and  sulphuric  acid,  might  be  attended  with  un- 
pleasant consequences,  if  intrusted  to  ignorant  or  careless 
hands,  and  to  inhale  the  vapor  as  generated  is  not  only  un- 
pleasant but  dangerous.  Chloride  of  lime,  the  use  of  which 
is  attended  with  highly  beneficial  results  as  a  disinfectant, 
and  in  neutralizing  the  pernicious  effects  of  mephitic  vapors, 
might  prove  advantageous  in  silkworm  establishments,  pro- 
ducing all  the  good  effects  of  fumigation  with  chlorine  gas, 
without  hazarding  any  of  the  pernicious  results  which  might 
accompany  the  latter  application. 

Among  the  peasants  of  France  and  Italy  there  is  a  practice 
of  fumigating  the  room  where  the  insects  are  kept  with  some 
kind  of  aromatic  gum  or  odoriferous  plant,  but  these  only 
serve  to  conceal  without  correcting  the  effluvia  which  should 
warn  the  attendants  of  the  necessity  for  cleanliness,  and  in- 
stead of  removing  increase  the  evil. 

Many  persons  believe  that  light  is  injurious  to  silkworms  ; 
but,  so  far  from  this  opinion  being  correct,  the  opposite  belief 
would  probably  be  nearer  to  the  truth.  In  its  native  state, 
the  insect  is  of  course  exposed  to  light,  and  suffers  no  incon- 
venience on  that  account ;  and  it  has  been  observed  by  one 
who  gave  much  attention  to  the  subject,  that  in  his  establish- 
ment, "  on  the  side  on  which  the  sun  shone  directly  on  the 
hurdles,  the  silkworms  were  more  numerous  and  stronger 
than  in  those  places  where  the  edge  of  the  wicker  hurdle 
formed  a  shade."  The  obscurity  wherein  the  apartments  are 
usually  kept  has  a  very  pernicious  influence  on  the  air :  the 
food  of  the  worms  emits  in  light  oxygen,  or  vital  air,  while 
in  darkness  it  exhales  carbonic  acid  gas,  unfit  for  respiration. 
This  well-known  fact  occurs  alike  with  all  leaves  similarly 
circumstanced.*    To  the  bad  effects  thus  arising  from  the 


*  Note  B  B 


136 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


exclusion  of  the  sun's  rays,  another  evil  is  added  by  the 
nature  of  the  artificial  lights  employed  being  such  as  still 
further  to  vitiate  the  air. 

An  almost  incredible  quantity  of  fluid  is  constantly  disen- 
gaged by  evaporation  from  the  bodies  of  the  insects ;  and  if 
means  be  not  taken  to  disperse  this  as  it  is  produced,  another 
cause  of  unwholesomeness  in  the  air  arises.  Noticing  this, 
count  Dandolo  observes,  "  This  series  of  causes  of  the  dete- 
rioration of  the  air  which  the  worms  must  inhale  may  be 
termed  a  continued  conspiracy  against  their  health  and  life  ; 
and  their  resisting  it,  and  living  through  it,  shows  them  to 
have  great  strength  of  constitution." 

Before  this  nobleman  so  zealously  undertook  the  work  of 
reform,  the  poor  silkworms  had  to  struggle  through  a  miserable 
existence,  until,  their  numbers  thinned  by  death,  and  their 
frames  weakened  by  disease,  they  feebly  began  to  spin  that 
thread  which  would  have  been  produced  superior  in  quality 
and  much  greater  in  quantity  had  they  been  more  judiciously 
tended.  By  his  methodical  arrangements,  the  accidents  of 
seasons  and  external  temperature  are  no  longer  formidable. 
In  1814,  a  year  peculiarly  unfavorable  for  rearing  these  in- 
sects, and  which  proved  extensively  fatal  in  other  establish- 
ments, he  continued  his  operations  with  the  same  unvaried 
regularity,  and,  with  perhaps  increased  precautions,  was  ulti- 
mately rewarded  by  the  usual  success. 

In  noticing  the  system  already  mentioned  of  distributing 
silkworms  among  the  dwellings  of  the  peasantry,  count  Dan- 
dolo gives  the  following  distressing  picture : — "  In  general 
the  rooms  appropriated  to  rearing  silkworms  among  the  ten- 
ants, farmers,  and  common  cultivators,  have  the  appearance 
of  catacombs;  I  say  in  general,  for  there  are  some  few  who, 
although  they  may  not  have  all  the  requisites  for  rearing 
worms  in  perfection,  yet  have  care  sufficient  to  preserve  them 
from  any  very  severe  disease. 

"  I  have  found,  on  entering  the  room  in  which  these  insects 
were  reared,  that  they  were  damp,  ill  lighted  by  lamps  fed 
with  rancid  oil;  the  air  corrupt  and  stagnant  to  a  degree 
that  impeded  respiration;  disagreeable  effluvia  disguised 
with  aromatics;  the  wickers  too  close  together,  covered  with 
fermenting  litter  upon  which  the  silkworms  were  pining. 
The  air  was  never  renewed  except  by  the  breaches  which 
time  had  worn  in  the  doors  and  windows ;  and  what  made 
this  more  sad  and  deplorable  was  the  knowledge  that  the 
persons  who  attended  to  these  insects,  however  healthy  they 
might  have  been  when  they  entered  upon  the  employment, 


CHAP.  VII.  FEEDING  SILKWORMS. 


137 


lost  their  health,  their  voices  became  hollow,  their  hues 
pallid,  and  they  had  the  appearance  of  valetudinarians,  as  if 
issuing  from  the  very  tombs,  or  recovering  from  some  dread- 
ful illness." 


CHAP.  VII. 

ATTEMPTS  TO  SUBSTITUTE  OTHER  FOOD  FOR  MULBERRY  LEAVES 
IN  REARING  SILKWORMS. 

Doctor  Bellardi's  Experiment  — Lettuce  Leaves. — Comparative  Produce  of 
Worms  fed  with  these  and  with  Mulberry  Leaves. — Miss  Rhodes's  Experi- 
ments.— Lettuce  Leaves  successfully  used  in  a  Hot-House. — Mrs.  Wil- 
liams's Experiments. — Natural  Antipathy  of  Silkworms.— Leaves  of 
Scorzouera. — Recent  Attempt  to  rear  Silkworms  in  England. — Abandoned 
for  want  of  sufficient  and  appropriate  Food. 

It  must  always  be  a  subject  of  anxious  attention  with  the 
rearer  of  silkworms  so  to  time  the  hatching  of  his  eggs  as  to 
cause  the  coming  forth  of  the  living  insects  at  the  season 
when  the  mulberry  tree  first  comes  into  leaf. 

By  the  aid  of  artificial  means,  and  with  methodical  arrange- 
ments, this  would  appear  to  be  a  very  simple  affair ;  and  yet 
so  great  have  the  difficulties  been  in  practice,  that  various 
expedients  have  from  time  to  time  been  proposed  and  attempt- 
ed for  combating  them. 

Great  industry  has  been  employed  to  seek  out  some  sub- 
stitute for  the  natural  food  of  the  worm,  which  should  be 
readily  procurable  at  all  seasons,  and  in  sufficient  abundance 
to  render  the  cultivator  independent  of  the  chances  which  at- 
tend the  budding  of  the  mulberry  tree.  Dr.  Lodovico  Bel- 
lardi,  a  learned  and  ingenious  botanist  of  Turin,  after  making 
numerous  experiments,  and  failing  to  discover  any  eligible 
substitute  for  the  mulberry,  at  length  proposed  a  method  of 
feeding  such  silkworms  as  should  be  prematurely  hatched, 
upon  leaves  of  the  preceding  season  carefully  dried  and  pre- 
pared for  the  purpose.  The  trials  made  by  the  doctor  were 
accompanied  by  all  the  success  he  could  desire. 

The  leaves  which  had  been  gathered  in  fine  weather  to- 
wards the  close  of  the  preceding  autumn,  and  before  any  in- 
jury from  frost  could  have  been  experienced,  were  first 
spread  on  cloths  and  dried  in  the  sun,  and  then  reduced  to 
powder ;  this  was  preserved  through  the  winter  in  a  perfectly 
dry  place.  Before  giving  it  as  food  to  his  newly-hatched 
brood,  the  powder  was  slightly  moistened  with  water,  and  a 
.thin  layer  of  it  being  placed  around  the  insects,  they  imme- 


138 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


diately  and  with  avidity  began  to  feed,  preferring  it  to  every 
substitute  which  was  offered,  and  thriving  upon  it  satisfac- 
torily. 

While  the  hope  still  remained  of  naturalizing  the  silkworm 
in  England,  the  means  of  procuring  a  sufficient  supply  of 
appropriate  food  was  considered  as  one  of  the  greatest  ob- 
stacles to  its  success ;  and  the  attention  of  such  persons  as 
interested  themselves  in  the  pursuit  was  consequently  en- 
gaged, in  ascertaining  by  experiment  whether  other  leaves 
than  those  furnished  by  the  mulberry  tree  might  not  be  favor- 
ably substituted. 

Among  others,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Swayne  exhibited  much  anx- 
iety for  the  success  of  this  object,  with  the  praiseworthy 
desire  of  providing  profitable  employment  for  such  of  the 
poorer  classes  as  might  be  too  feeble  for  manual  labor,  most 
of  the  duties  required  in  attendance  upon  the  silkworm  being 
such  as  can  easily  be  fulfilled  by  women,  children,  and  aged 
persons. 

This  gentleman  made  various  trials  as  to  the  relative 
merits  of  different  kinds  of  nourishmeut.  For  this  purpose 
he  placed  equal  numbers  of  newly-hatched  worms  in  three 
different  boxes,  which  he  numbered  1,  2,  and  3.  The  con- 
tents of  number  1.  he  fed  entirely  with  leaves  of  the  white 
mulberry;  the  insects  in  number  2.  were  nourished  with 
those  of  the  black  mulberry ;  and  the  worms  in  number  3. 
were  furnished  with  lettuce  leaves  until  their  first  age  was 
passed,  and  thereafter  with  the  black  mulberry  leaf.  These 
last  worms  were  of  a  paler  color,  and  grew  more  rapidly 
than  the  others.  The  result,  however,  seems  to  prove  that, 
although  lettuce  leaves  may  yield  bodily  nourishment  to  the 
insect,  they  contribute  little  towards  the  secretion  of  that 
peculiar  matter  which  constitutes  its  value.  When  the 
spinning  had  been  completed,  twelve  of  the  finest  cocoons 
were  chosen  from  each  of  the  three  divisions,  and  were 
found  to  be  of  the  following  weights : — 

Cocoons  of  No.  1.  weighed  7  dwts.  2  grains. 
Ditto    -    No.  2.       -  6-3 
Ditto    -    No.  3.       -  6-0 

Neither  of  these  results  was  very  encouraging  to  the  culti- 
vator, but  the  experiment  clearly  evinced  the  superiority  of 
the  white  mulberry  over  the  other  kinds  of  nourishment. 

Many  communications  upon  this  subject  are  to  be  found  in 
the  volumes  recording  the  Transactions  of  the  Society  for 
the  Encouragement  of  Arts,  &c.  A  letter  from  Miss  Rhodes 


CHAP.  VII.  FEEDING  SILKWORMS. 


139 


relates,  that  in  the  summer  of  1785,  she  subsisted  ■  several 
thousand  worms  entirely  on  lettuce  leaves  during  three 
weeks,  and  that  for  the  remaining-  short  term  of  their  lives 
she  afforded  them  their  natural  food.  At  the  end  of  a  month 
from  their  first  hatching  they  began  to  spin,  and  eleven 
ounces  of  silk  were  procured  from  four  thousand  cocoons. 
After  repeated  trials,  this  lady  had  become  convinced  that 
silkworms  could  not  safely  be  fed  on  lettuce  leaves  for  a 
longer  period  than  three  weeks ;  as  on  persisting  further  in 
their  use,  the  greater  part  of  the  worms  died  without  forming 
their  cocoons.  Some,  indeed,  possessed  sufficient  vigor  to 
spin  and  to  produce  perfect  and  well-formed  balls,  even  when 
lettuce  leaves  had  constituted  their  only  food.  Reasoning 
from  this  fact,  Miss  Rhodes  was  brought  to  suspect  that  the 
premature  mortality  of  her  brood  was  not  altogether  occa- 
sioned by  the  unwholesome  nature  of  the  aliment  on  which 
they  had  fed,  but  might  be  owing  to  some  extraneous  circum- 
stance ;  and  further  observation  led  her  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  was  the  coldness  of  the  lettuce  leaves  rather  than  any 
inherent  property  which  made  them  detrimental.  This  lady 
having  thence  suggested  that  if  the  worms  were  kept  in  a 
higher  temperature,  they  might  be  successfully  supported 
through  their  lives  on  lettuce  leaves,  general  Mordaunt 
caused  a  considerable  number  to  be  hatched  and  reared  in 
his  hot-house.  These  were  fed  entirely  on  lettuce  leaves ; 
they  throve  and  went  through  all  their  mutations  as  satisfac- 
torily as  if  fed  with  their  natural  nourishment ;  scarcely  any 
among  them  died,  and  the  number  and  quality  of  the  cocoons 
that  v/ere  gathered  proved  the  entire  success  of  the  experi- 
ment If  a  solitary  trial  be  sufficient  to  establish  a  fact,  this 
must  certainly  be  satisfactory  to  those  who  consider  it  desi- 
rable to  naturalize  silkworms  in  this  country,  where,  owing 
to  the  inequality  of  seasons,  the  appearance  of  mulberry 
leaves  must  always  be  uncertain  in  regard  to  time.  Lettuce 
leaves  have  an  advantage  over  other  vegetables  which  have 
been  offered  as  substitutes  for  the  mulberry,  that  they  may 
be  gathered  in  wet  weather  without  themselves  being  wetted, 
as  a  lettuce,  once  cabbaged,  resists  the  entrance  of  all 
moisture  within ;  and  the  heart  being  always  perfectly  dry, 
insures  nourishment  to  the  worm,  free  from  that  moisture 
which  is  always  found  to  affect  it  injuriously. 

Mrs.  Williams,  an  earlier  correspondent  of  the  society 
whose  "  Transactions"  have  been  quoted,  gives  a  very  minute 
and  copious  account  of  the  various  trials  which  she  made 
of  vegetable  substances  as  substitutes  for  mulberry  leaves. 


140 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


Having  hatched  her  brood  in  severely  cold  weather,  when 
even  lettuces  were  not  easily  procurable,  she  offered  to  her 
worms  the  tender  parts  of  blackberry  leaves,  and  relates  that 
the  worms  ate  them  greedily.  She  next  presented  to  them 
young  leaves  of  the  elm,  and  reports  that  equal  success  at- 
tended this  trial :  encouraged  by  these  facts,  she  then  suc- 
ceeded in  causing  the  insects  to  feed  on  the  leaves  and  flow- 
ers of  the  sweet  cowslip  and  primrose.  But  meanwhile  the 
mulberry  had  put  forth  its  leaves,  and  having  procured  some 
of  these  for  her  brood,  it  was  thenceforth  vain  to  offer  them 
any  other  kinds  of  food  :  all  were  rejected ;  and  another 
proof  was  afforded,  that  the  mulberry  tree,  which  no  other 
insect  will  attack,  is  alone  adapted  to  the  natural  desires  of 
the  silkworm.  Mrs.  Williams  records  one  peculiarity  which 
discovered  itself  throughout  her  investigation ;  by  no  means 
could  the  worms  be  brought  to  touch  any  flower  of  roseate 
hue.  Pinks,  roses,  sweet-williams,  polyanthuses,  were  each 
in  turn  offered  by  this  persevering  lady,  and  were  all  rejected 
without  hesitation.  It  is  proper  to  remark,  that  these  experi- 
ments of  Mrs.  Williams  are  not  confirmed  by  those  of  any 
other  person,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  Miss  Khodes  was  un- 
successful in  every  endeavor  to  repeat  them,  and  succeeded 
only  in  reconciling  her  silkworms  to  the  use  of  lettuce  and 
spinach. 

Attempts  to  discover  a  substitute  for  the  mulberry  are  not 
entirely  abandoned  even  at  the  present  time.  It  is  recorded 
in  the  Bulletin  Universel,  for  1829,  that  mademoiselle  Coge 
of  Epinal  has  used  with  success  the  leaves  of  the  scorzonera 
(viper-grass)  for  the  nourishment  of  silkworms.  The  silk 
produced  by  worms  fed  on  this  leaf  is  represented  to  be  in 
no  respect  inferior  to  that  from  worms  kept  on  the  natural 
food. 

Notwithstanding,  however,  this  last  announcement,  and 
the  partial  success  so  frequently  recorded  as  attending  the 
substitution  of  the  lettuce,  all  practical  cultivators  of  silk 
continue  to  be  convinced  that  it  would  be  unprofitable  to 
feed  their  worms  on  any  save  their  natural  nourishment ;  and 
the  most  intelligent  writers  on  the  subject  approve  the  prac- 
tice of  destroying,  as  useless,  any  worms,  which  through  ill 
management  may  be  hatched  before  the  mulberry  tree  has 
put  forth  leaves  sufficient  for  their  support. 

Recent  attempts  which  have  been  made  to  rear  silkworms 
in  England  do  not  offer  much  encouragement  to  the  pursuit, 
except  as  matter  of  amusement.  Some  pairs  of  silk  stock*- 
ings  of  good  quality  are  to  be  seen  in  the  gallery  of  "  The 


CHAP.  VIII.       SILK  PRODUCED  BY  SPIDERS. 


141 


National  Repository,"  woven  from  silk  of  home  production. 
The  worms  which  spun  this  were  reared  by  Mrs.  Allen  of 
Wandsworth,  the  result  of  whose  careful  observations  on  this 
subject  has  been  obtained. 

The  difficulty  of  procuring  a  sufficient  and  continuous 
supply  of  proper  food  was  the  reason  why  this  lady  was 
obliged  to  relinquish  a  pursuit  in  which  she  had  taken  much 
pleasure  for  four  successive  years. 

Mrs.  Allen's  testimony  strongly  corroborates  the  necessity 
of  extreme  cleanliness  in  preserving  the  health  of  the  worms. 
The  most  scrupulous  attention  seems  to  have  been  paid  by 
her  to  this  particular,  as  well  as  to  the  dryness  of  the  leaves, 
and  the  temperature  of  the  apartment  wherein  the  insects 
were  reared  and  set  to  spin  ;  and  yet  a  very  great  mortality 
was  always  experienced  among  them,  scarcely  more  than  one 
in  five  of  the  worms  that  were  hatched  coming  to  maturity 
and  forming  their  cocoons.  Of  these  it  required  1000  to  fur- 
nish an  ounce  of  reeled  silk,  the  floss  being  equal  to  a  quar- 
ter of  an  ounce  more.  The  cocoons  were  gathered  in  eight 
days  from  their  commencement,  and  in  eight  days  more  were 
wound  off.  No  necessity  hence  arose  for  destroying  the 
vitality  of  the  insects  to  prevent  their  piercing  the  balls. 
The  chrysalides  being  placed  in  bran,  in  due  time  became 
moths  and  produced  eggs,  each  female  furnishing  between 
300  and  400. 


CHAP.  vm. 

ATTEMPTS    TO  PRODUCE    SILK    FROM    DIFFERENT  ANIMATE 

CREATURES. 

The  Spider. — Discovery  by  Mons.  Bon. — Manner  of  Spiders  producing 
-their  Web. — Power  of  producing  this  of  various  Degrees  of  Tenuity. — 
Great  number  of  Fibres  composing  one  Filament. — Different  Kinds  of 
Threads. — Spider  Bags.— Silk  made  from  these  by  M.  Bon.— Manner  of 
its  Preparation. — Great  Comparative  Advantages  adduced  by  M.  Bon. — 
His  Spider  Establishment.— Investigations  by  Reaumur. — His  Objections. 
— Small  Produce  of  Silk  from  Spiders. — The  Pinna. — Description. — Deli- 
cacy of  its  Threads. — Reaumur's  Observations. — Spinning  Organ  of  the 
Pinna. — Manner  of  forming  its  Thread.- — How  different  from  that  of 
Land  Insects. — Power  of  Continually  producing  new  Threads. — "  The 
Pinna.and  its  Cancer  Friend." — Nature  of  their  Alliance. — Manner  of 
taking  the  Pinna.  —  Its  Threads  known  to  the  Ancients.  —  Peculiar 
Qualities  of  this  Material. 

The  useful  properties  possessed  by  the  produce  of  the  silk- 
worm, and  the  value  which  it  has  acquired  among  civilized 
communities,  have,  at  various  times,  led  ingenious  men  to 
seek  among  the  works  of  nature  tor  other  substances,  which, 


142 


SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  II. 


presenting*  appearances  analogous  to  that  beautiful  filament, 
might  be  made  equally  conducive  to  human  convenience  and 
adornment. 

Some  species  of  spiders  are  known  to  possess  the  power  of 
not  merely  forming  a  web,  but  also  of  spinning,  for  the  pro- 
tection of  their  eggs,  a  bag  somewhat  similar  in  form  and 
substance  to  the  cocoon  of  the  silkworm.  At  the  commence- 
ment of  the  last  century  a  method  was  discovered  in  France 
by  Monsieur  Bon,  of  procuring  silk  from  these  spiders'  bags, 
and  its  use  was  attempted  in  the  manufacture  of  several  ar- 
ticles. The  following  particulars  are  gathered  from  a  disser- 
tation published  at  the  time  by  M.  Bon,  and  also  from  papers 
on  the  subject  inserted  in  the  volumes  of  the  Royal  Academy 
for  the  years  1710  and  1711. 

Spiders  are  usually  classed  according  to  their  difference  of 
color,  whether  black,  brown,  yellow,  &c,  or  sometimes  by 
the  number  and  arrangement  of  their  eyes :  of  these  organs 
some  possess  no  fewer  than  ten,  others  eight,  and  others 
again  six.  M.  Bon  has,  however,  noticed  only  two  kinds  of 
silk  spiders,  and  these  he  has  distinguished  from  each  other 
as  having  either  long  or  short  legs,  the  last  variety  producing 
the  finest  quality  of  raw  silk.  According  to  this  ingenious 
observer,  the  silk  formed  by  these  insects  is  equally  beautiful, 
strong,  and  glossy  with  that  formed  by  the  bombyx.  The 
spider  spins  minute  fibres  from  fine  papillae,  or  small  nipples, 
placed  in  the  hinder  part  of  its  body.  These  papillae  serve 
the  office  of  so  many  wire-drawing  irons,  to  form  and  mould 
a  viscous  liquor,  which  after  being  drawn  through  them  dries 
on  exposure  to  the  air,  and  forms  the  silk. 

The  celebrated  naturalist  M.  Reaumur,  who  likewise  be- 
stowed considerable  attention  on  these  insects,  discovered 
that  each  of  their  papillae  consists  of  a  number  of  smaller 
ones,  so  minute  as  not  to  be  discernible,  and  only  made  evi- 
dent by  the  effects  produced.  If  the  body  of  the  spider  be 
pressed  between  the  fingers,  the  liquor  from  which  the  threads 
are  formed  flows  into  the  papillae,  by  applying  the  finger 
against  which,  distinct  threads  may  then  be  drawn  out 
through  the  several  perforations  of  each  papillae.  These 
threads  are  too  fine  to  be  counted  with  any  accuracy,  but  it 
is  evident  that  very  many  are  sent  forth  from  each  of  the 
larger  papillae.  This  fact  tends  to  explain  the  power  possess* 
ed  by  the  spider  of  producing  threads  having  different  de» 
grees  of  tenuity.  By  applying  more  or  fewer  of  these  pa- 
pillae against  the  place  whence  it  begins  its  web,  the  spider 
joins  into  one  thread  the  almost  imperceptible  individual  fila-* 


CHAP.  VIII.         SILK  PRODUCED  BY  SPIDERS. 


143 


mcnts  which  it  draws  from  its  body  ;  the  size  of  this  thread 
being  dependent  on  the  number  of  nipples  employed,  and  reg- 
ulated by  that  instinct  which  teaches  the  creatures  to  make 
choice  of  the  degree  of  exility  most  appropriate  to  the  work 
wherein  it  is  about  to  engage.  M.  Bon  was  able  to  distin- 
guish fifteen  or  twenty  fibres  in  a  single  thread,  while  Reau- 
mur relates  that  he  has  often  counted  as  many  as  seventy  or 
eighty  fibres  through  a  microscope,  and  perceived  that  there 
were  yet  infinitely  more  than  he  could  reckon ;  so  that  he  be- 
lieved himself  to  be  far  within  the  limit  of  truth  in  computing 
that  the  tip  of  each  of  the  five  papilla?  furnished  1000  sepa- 
rate fibres :  thus  supposing  that  one  slender  filament  of  a  spi- 
der's web  is  made  up  of  5000  fibres  !  * 

The  threads  produced  by  spiders  are  of  two  kinds.  The 
first,  which  serves  only  to  form  the  web  which  the  insect 
spreads  to  entrap  its  prey,  is  very  fragile  ;  while  the  second, 
which  is  used  to  inclose  the  eggs  of  the  female,  is  much 
stronger,  thus  affording  to  them  shelter  from  cold,  and  pro- 
tection from  other  insects  which  might  otherwise  destroy 
them.  The  threads  are,  in  this  operation,  wound  very  loosely 
round  the  eggs,  in  a  shape  resembling  that  of  the  cocoon  of 
the  silkworm,  after  it  has  been  prepared  and  loosened  for  the 
distaff.  When  first  formed,  the  color  of  these  spiders'  bags 
is  gray,  but,  by  exposure  to  the  air,  they  soon  acquire  a 
blackish  hue.  Other  spider  bags  might  probably  be  found  of 
other  colors,  and  affording  silk  of  better  quality,  but  their 
scarcity  would  render  any  experiment  with  them  difficult  of 
accomplishment ;  for  which  reason  M.  Bon  confined  his  atten- 
tion to  the  bags  of  the  common  sort  of  the  short-legged  kind. 

These  always  form  their  bags  in  some  place  sheltered  from 
the  wind  and  rain,  such  as  the  hollow  trunks  of  trees,  the 
corners  of  windows  or  vaults,  or  under  the  eaves  of  houses. 
A  quantity  of  these  bags  was  collected  by  M.  Bon,  from  which 
a  new  kind  of  silk  was  made,  said  to  be  in  no  respect  inferior 
to  the  silk  of  the  bombyx.  It  took  readily  all  kinds  of  dyes, 
and  might  have  been  wrought  into  any  description  of  silken 
fabric.  M.  Bon  had  stockings  and  gloves  made  from  it,  some 
of  which  he  presented  to  the  Royal  Academy  of  Paris,  and 
others  he  transmitted  to  the  Royal  Society  of  London. 

This  silk  was  prepared  in  the  following  manner : — Twelve 
or  thirteen  ounces  of  the  bags  were  beaten  with  the  hand,  or 
by  a  stick,  until  they  were  entirely  freed  from  dust.  They 
were  next  washed  in  warm  water,  which  was  continually 


*  Note  C  C. 


144 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


changed,  until  it  no  longer  became  clouded  or  discolored  by 
the  bags  under  process.  After  this  they  were  steeped  in  a 
large  quantity  of  water  wherein  soap,  saltpetre,  and  gum- 
arabic  had  been  dissolved.  The  whole  was  then  set  to  boil 
over  a  gentle  fire  during  three  hours,  after  which  the  bags 
were  rinsed  in  clear  warm  water  to  discharge  the  soap. 
They  were  finally  set  out  to  dry,  during  some  days  previous 
to  the  operation  of  carding,  which  was  then  performed  with 
cards  differing  from  those  usually  employed  with  silk  in  be- 
ing much  finer.  By  these  means  silk  of  a  peculiar  ash  color 
was  obtained,  which  was  spun  without  difficulty.  M.  Bon 
affirmed  that  the  thread  was  both  stronger  and  finer  than 
common  silk,  and  that  therefore  fabrics  similar  to  those  made 
with  the  latter  material  might  be  manufactured  from  this, 
there  being  no  reason  for  doubting  that  it  would  stand  any 
trials  of  the  loom,  after  having  undergone  those  of  the  stock- 
ing frame. 

The  only  obstacle,  therefore,  which  appeared  to  prevent 
the  establishing  of  any  considerable  manufacture  from  these 
spider  bags  was  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  them  in  sufficient 
abundance.  M.  Bon  fancied  that  this  objection  could  soon  be 
overcome,  and  that  the  art  of  domesticating  and  rearing  spi- 
ders, as  practised  with  silkworms,  was  to  be  attained.  Car- 
ried away  by  the  enthusiasm  of  one  who,  having  made  a  dis- 
covery, pursues  it  with  ardor  undismayed  by  difficulties,  he 
met  every  objection  by  comparisons,  which  perhaps  were  not 
wholly  and  strictly  founded  on  fact.  Contrasted  with  the 
spider,  and  to  favor  his  arguments,  the  silkworm  in  his  hands 
made  a  very  despicable  figure.  He  affirmed  that  the  female 
spider  produces  600  or  700  eggs ;  while  of  the  100,  to  which 
number  he  limited  the  silkworm,  not  more  than  one  half 
were  reared  to  produce  balls.  That  the  spiders  hatched 
spontaneously,  without  any  care,  in  the  months  of  August  and 
September ;  that  the  old  spiders  dying  soon  after  they  have 
laid  their  eggs,  the  young  ones  live  for  ten  or  twelve  months 
without  food,  and  continue  in  their  bags  without  growing, 
until  the  hot  weather,  by  putting  their  viscid  juices  in  motion, 
induces  them  to  come  forth,  spin,  and  run  about  in  search  of 
food. 

Mons.  Bon  flattered  himself  by  this  partial  comparison,  that 
if  a  method  could  be  found  of  breeding  young  spiders  in 
apartments,  they  would  furnish  a  much  greater  quantity  of 
bags  than  silkworms.  Of  about  700  or  800  young  spiders 
which  he  kept,  hardly  one  died  in  a  year ;  whereas,  accord- 
ing to  this  gentleman's  estimate,  of  100  silkworms  not  forty 


CHAP.  VIII.       SILK  PRODUCED  BY  SPIDERS. 


145 


lived  to  form  their  cocoons.  His  spider  establishment  was 
managed  in  the  following  manner  : — having  ordered  all  the 
short-legged  spiders  which  could  be  collected  by  persons  em- 
ployed for  the  purpose,  to  be  brought  to  him,  he  inclosed 
them  in  paper  coffins  and  pots ;  these  were  covered  with  pa- 
pers, which,  as  well  as  the  coffins,  were  pricked  over  their 
surface  with  pin-holes  to  admit  air  to  the  prisoners.  The  in- 
sects were  duly  fed  with  flies,  and  after  some  time  it  was 
found  on  inspection  that  the  greater  part  of  them  had  formed 
their  bags.  This  advocate  for  the  rearing  of  spiders  contend- 
ed that  spiders'  bags  afforded  much  more  silk  in  proportion  to 
their  weight  than  those  of  the  silkworm  ;  in  proof  of  which 
he  observed,  that  thirteen  ounces  yield  nearly  four  ounces  of 
pure  silk,  two  ounces  of  which  were  sufficient  to  make  a  pair 
of  stockings ;  whereas  stockings  made  of  common  silk  were 
,  said  by  him  to  weigh  seven  or  eight  ounces. 

Some  persons  had  imagined  that  the  spider  was  venomous, 

•  and  that  this  evil  quality  extended  to  the  silk  which  it  pro- 
duced. Mons.  Bon  combated  this  prejudice  by  the  assertion, 
that  he  had  several  times  been  bitten  by  spiders,  when  no  in- 
jury had  ensued  ;  and  that  the  silk,  so  far  from  being  per- 

t  nicious,  had  been  found  efficacious  in  stanching  and  healing 
wounds,  its  natural  gluten  acting  as  a  kind  of  balsam.  De- 
termined upon  extracting  every  possible  good  from  this  his 
favorite  pursuit,  he  subjected  the  spider  silk  to  chemical 
analysis,  and  obtained  from  it  a  volatile  salt,  preparing 
which  in  the  same  manner  used  for  the  guttcs  Anglicance, 
once  so  famous  all  over  Europe,  he  produced  drops  which, 
as  he  believed,  possessed  greater  efficacy  than  even  these  : 
he  called  this  preparation  Montpelier  drops,  and  recommend- 
ed its  application  in  all  lethargic  diseases. 

The  Royal  Academy  of  Paris  having  considered  the  sub- 
ject deserving  of  investigation,  appointed  M.  Reaumur  to  in- 
quire into  the  merits  of  this  new  silken  material.  In  the 
course  of  his  examination  this  naturalist  discovered  many  se- 
rious objections,  the  narration  of  which  will  show  the  inex- 
pediency of  M.  Bon's  projected  establishments.  Mons. 
Reaumur  urged  that  the  natural  fierceness  of  spiders  render- 
ed them  wholly  unfit  to  be  bred  and  reared  together.  On 
distributing  4000  or  5000  into  cells,  in  companies  of  from  50 
to  100  or  200,  it  was  found  that  the  larger  spiders  quickly 
killed  and  ate  the  smaller,  so  that  in  a  short  time  the  cells 
were  depopulated,  scarcely  more  than  one  or  two  being 
found  in  each  cell.  To  this  propensity  for  mutual  destruc- 
tion, M.  Reaumur  ascribes  the  scarcity  of  spiders  in  compari- 

N 


146 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


son  with  the  vast  number  of  eggs  which  they  produce.  But 
if  even  it  were  possible  to  change  their  warlike  nature  and 
bring  these  insects  together  in  peaceful  community,  there 
are  other  objections  to  deter  from  the  attempt. 

M.  Reaumur  affirmed,  that  the  silk  of  the  spider  is  inferior 
to  that  of  the  silkworm,  both  in  lustre  and  strength,  and  that 
it  produced  proportionally  less  material  available  to  purposes 
of  manufacture.  All  this  was  satisfactorily  proved  ;  although 
in  his  reasoning  some  little  exaggeration  was  likewise  em- 
ployed in  opposition  to  the  coloring  of  M.  Bon.  The  thread 
of  the  spider's  web  was  found  capable  of  sustaining  a  weight 
of  only  two  grains  without  breaking  ;  and  the  filament  of  the 
bag,  although  much  stronger  than  this,  could  only  sustain 
thirty-six  grains,  while  that  of  the  silkworm  will  support  a 
weight  of  two  drachms  and  a  half.  "  Thus  five"  (four  7) 
"  threads  of  the  spider,"  said  M.  Reaumur,  "  must  be  brought 
together  to  equal  one  thread  of  the  silkworm."  Now  it  is 
impossible  that  these  should  be  applied  so  justly  over  one  , 
another  as  not  to  leave  little  vacant  spaces  between  them, 
whence  the  light  will  not  be  reflected  ;  and,  consequently, 
a  thread  thus  compounded  cannot  equal  in  lustre  a  solid 
thread.  It  is  another  great  disadvantage  of  the  spiders'  silk, 
that  it  cannot  be  wound  off  the  ball  like  that  of  the  silkworm, 
but  must  necessarily  be  carded  ;  and  therefore  its  evenness, 
which  contributes  so  materially  to  its  lustre,  is  destroyed. 
That  this  effect  was  in  reality  produced,  is  further  confirmed 
by  the  testimony  of  M.  le  Hire,  who,  when  the  stockings  of 
M.  Bon  were  presented  to  the  Royal  Academy,  immediately 
noticed  their  want  of  lustre. 

Another  objection  urged  by  M.  Reaumur  against  the  rear- 
ing of  spiders  was  the  small  quantity  as  well  as  deficient 
quality  of  the  silk  they  produce.  In  making  a  comparison  in 
this  respect  between  them  and  the  silkworm,  extreme  cases 
were  taken,  that  the  conclusion  might  be  rendered  more 
striking.  44  The  largest  cocoons,"  said  this  naturalist, 44  weigh 
four  and  the  smaller  three  grains  each  ;  spiders'  bags  do  not 
weigh  above  one  grain  each,  and,  after  being  cleared  of  their 
dust,  have  lost  two  thirds  of  this  weight."  He  calculated, 
therefore,  that  the  work  of  twelve  spiders  only  equals  that  of 
one  silkworm  ;  and  that  a  pound  of  silk  would  require  for  its 
production  27,648  insects.  But  as  the  bags  are  wholly  the 
work  of  the  females,  who  spin  them  as  a  deposit  for  their 
eggs,  it  follows  that  55,296  spiders  must  be  reared  to  yield 
one  pound  of  silk ;  yet  even  this  will  be  obtained  from  only 
hro-e  ones  ordir 


CHAP.  VIII.    SILK  PRODUCED  BY  THE  PINNA. 


147 


&c.  yielding  not  more  than  a  twelfth  part  the  silk  of  the 
others.  The  work  of  280  of  these  would,  therefore,  not 
yield  more  silk  than  the  produce  of  one  industrious  silkworm, 
and  663,552  of  them  would  furnish  only  one  pound  of  silk ! 
This  latter  calculation  is  however  decidedly  erroneous  in  its 
several  steps,  and  appears  rather  to  be  a  flight  of  the  imagi- 
nation than  the  result  of  sober  induction.  The  advantages 
of  the  culture  of  silk  from  the  silkworm,  when  compared  with 
its  production  from  spiders,  are  so  prodigious,  and  at  the 
same  time  so  evident,  that  to  prove  the  futility  of  M.  Bon's 
scheme  needed  not  the  aid  of  exaggeration. 

Human  ingenuity  has  been  somewhat  more  successfully 
exercised  in  seeking,  many  feet  below  the  surface  of  the 
ocean,  for  slender  filaments,  the  produce  of  an  animal  in  al- 
most a  vegetative  state  of  existence. 

The  pinna  belongs,  like  the  common  edible  muscle,  to  the 
order  of  the  vermes  testacea.  The  animal  is  a  limax,  its 
shell  is  bivalve,  fragile,  and  furnished  with  a  beard;  the 
valves  hinge  without  a  tooth.  The  pinna  does  not  fasten 
itself  to  rocks  in  the  same  situation  as  the  muscle,  but  sticks 
its  sharp  end  into  the  mud  or  sand,  while  the  rest  of  the  shell 
remains  at  liberty  to  open  in  the  water.  In  common  with 
the  muscle,  it  has  the  power  of  spinning  a  viscid  matter 
from  its  body,  in  the  manner  of  the  spider  and  caterpillar. 
Although  the  pinna  is  vastly  larger  than  the  muscle,  its  shell 
being  often  found  two  feet  long,  the  threads  which  it  pro- 
duces are  much  more  delicate  and  slender  than  those  of  the 
muscle,  and  scarcely  inferior  in  fineness  and  beauty*  to  the 
single  filament  of  the  comparatively  minute  silkworm. 
Threads  so  delicately  thin,  as  may  readily  be  imagined,  do 
not  singly  possess  much  strength;  but  the  little  power  of 
each  is  made  up  by  the  aggregate  of  the  almost  infinite  num- 
ber which  each  fish  puts  forth  to  secure  itself  in  a  fixed  situa- 
tion, and  to  preserve  it  against  the  rolling  of  the  waves. 
The  threads  are,  however,  similar  in  their  nature  to  those  of 
the  muscle,  differing  only  in  their  superior  fineness  and 
greater  length.  These  fish  have,  therefore,  been  distinguish- 
ed by  some  naturalists,  the  one  as  the  silkworm,  the  other  as 
the  caterpillar  of  the  sea. 

It  was  always  well  known  that  muscles  have  the  power  of 
affixing  themselves  either  to  rocks  or  to  the  shells  of  one  an- 
other, in  a  very  firm  manner ;  yet  their  method  of  effecting 
this  was  not  understood  until  explained  through  the  accurate 
observations  of  M.  Reaumur.  He  was  the  first  naturalist  who 
ascertained  that  if,  by  any  accident,  the  animals  were  torn 


148 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


from  their  hold,  they  possessed  the  power  of  substituting 
other  threads  for  those  which  had  been  broken  or  injured. 
He  found  that  if  muscles,  detached  from  each  other,  were 
placed  in  any  kind  of  vessel  and  then  plunged  into  the  sea, 
they  contrived  in  a  very  short  time  to  fasten  themselves 
both  to  the  sides  of  the  vessel  and  to  one  another's  shells :  in 
this  process,  the  extremity  of  each  thread  seemed  to  perform 
the  office  of  a  hand  in  seizing  upon  the  body  to  which  it 
would  attach  itself. 

The  threads  issue  from  the  shell  at  that  part  where  it 
naturally  opens,  and,  in  affixing  themselves  to  any  substance, 
form  numerous  minute  cables,  by  aid  of  which  the  fish 
steadies  itself  in  the  water.  Each  animal  is  furnished  with 
an  organ,  which  it  is  difficult  to  designate  by  any  name, 
since  it  performs  the  office  of  so  many  members,  and  is  the 
only  indicator  of  the  existence  of  vital  powers  in  the  crea- 
ture. It  is  by  turns  a  tongue,  an  arm,  and  sometimes  a  leg. 
Its  shape  resembles  that  of  a  tongue,  and  it  is,  therefore, 
most  frequently  called  by  that  name.  Whenever  the  fish 
requires  to  change  its  place,  this  member  serves  to  drag  its 
body  forward,  together  with  its  cumbrous  habitation  :  in  per- 
forming its  journey,  the  extremity  of  this  organ,  which  may 
then  be  called  a  leg,  is  fixed  to  some  solid  body,  and  being 
then  contracted  in  its  length,  the  whole  fish  is  necessarily 
drawn  towards  the  spot  where  it  has  fixed  itself ;  and  by  a 
repetition  of  these  movements,  the  animal  arrives  at  its  des- 
tination. It  is  not  often  that  the  organ  is  put  to  this  use,  as 
the  pinna  is  but  little  addicted  to  locomotion:  some  natu- 
ralists indeed  affirm  that  it  is  always  stationary.  The  use  to 
which  the  tongue  is  most  frequently  applied  is  that  of  spin- 
ning the  threads.  Although  this  body  is  flat,  and  similar  in 
form  to  a  tongue  through  the  greater  part  of  its  length,  it 
becomes  cylindrical  about  the  base  or  root,  where  it  is  much 
smaller  than  in  any  other  part :  at  this  lower  end  are  several 
ligatures  of  a  muscular  nature,  which  hold  the  tongue  firmly 
fixed  against  the  middle  of  the  shell ;  four  of  these  cords  are 
very  apparent,  and  serve  to  move  the  tongue  in  any  direction 
according  to  the  wants  of  the  fish.  Through  the  entire 
length  of  this  member  there  runs  a  slit,  which  pierces  very 
deeply  into  its  substance,  so  as  almost  to  divide  it  into  two 
longitudinal  sections ;  this  slit  performs  the  office  of  a  canal 
for  the  liquor  of  which  the  threads  are  formed,  and  serves  to 
mould  them  into  their  proper  form  :  this  canal  appears  exter- 
nally like  a  small  crack,  being  almost  covered  by  the  flesh 
from  either  side,  but  internally  it  is  much  wider,  and  is  sur- 


CHAP.  VIII.     SILK  PRODUCED  BY  THE  PINNA.  149 

rounded  by  circular  fibres.  The  channel  thus  formed  ex- 
tends regularly  from  the  tip  to  the  base  of  the  tongue, 
where  it  partakes  of  the  form  of  the  member  and  becomes 
cylindric,  forming  there  a  close  tube  or  pipe  in  which  the 
canal  terminates.  The  viscid  substance  is  moulded  in  this 
tube  into  the  form  of  a  cord,  similar  to  the  threads  produced 
from  it,  but  much  thicker,  and  from  this  cord  all  the  minute 
fibres  issue  and  disperse.  The  internal  surface  of  the  tube 
in  which  the  large  cord  is  formed  is  furnished  with  glands 
for  the  secretion  of  the  peculiar  liquor  employed  in  its  pro- 
duction, and  which  liquor  is  always  in  great  abundance  in 
this  animal  as  well  as  in  muscles. 

Reaumur  observed,  that  although  the  workmanship,  when 
completed,  of  the  land  and  sea  animals,  is  the  same,  the  man- 
ner of  its  production  is  very  different.  Spiders,  caterpillars, 
and  the  like,  form  threads  of  any  required  length,  by  making 
the  viscous  liquor  of  which  the  filament  is  formed  pass 
through  fine  perforations  in  the  organ  appointed  for  this 
spinning.  But  the  way  in  which  muscles  form  their  thread 
is  very  different ;  as  the  former  resembles  the  work  of  the 
wire-drawer,  so  does  the  latter  that  of  the  founder  who  casts 
metals  in  a  mould.  The  canal  of  the  organ  destined  for  the 
muscled  spinning  is  the  mould  in  which  its  thread  is  cast, 
and  gives  to  it  its  determinate  length.* 

Reaumur  learned  the  manner  of  the  muscle  performing 
the  operation  of  spinning  by  actually  placing  some  of  these 
fish  under  his  constant  inspection.  He  kept  them  in  his 
apartment  in  a  vessel  filled  with  sea  water,  and  distinctly 
saw  them  open  their  shells  and  put  forth  the  tongue.  They 
extended  and  contracted  this  organ  several  times,  obtruding 
it  in  every  direction,  as  if  seeking  the  fittest  place  whereon 
to  fix  their  threads.  After  these  trials  had  been  often  re- 
peated, the  tongue  of  one  was  observed  to  remain  for  some 
time  on  the  spot  chosen,  and  being  then  drawn  back  with 
great  quickness,  a  thread  was  very  easily  discerned,  fastened 
to  the  place :  this  operation  was  repeated,  until  all  the 
threads  were  in  sufficient  number,  one  fibre  being  produced 
at  each  movement  of  the  tongue. 

The  old  threads  were  found  to  differ  materially  from  those 
newly  spun,  the  latter  being  whiter,  more  glossy,  and  more 
transparent  than  the  former,  and  it  was  thence  discovered 
that  it  was  not  the  office  of  the  tongue  to  transfer  the  old 
threads  one  by  one  to  the  new  spots  where  they  were  fixed, 


*  Mem.  Acad.  Par.  1711. 

N2 


150 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


which  course  M.  Reaumur  had  thought  was  pursued.  The 
old  threads  once  severed  from  the  spot  to  which  they  had 
been  originally  fixed  were  seen  to  be  useless,  and  that  every 
fibre  employed  by  the  fish  to  secure  itself  in  a  new  position 
was  produced  at  the  time  it  was  required ;  and,  in  short,  that 
nature  had  endowed  some  fish,  as  well  as  many  land  insects, 
with  the  power  of  spinning-  threads,  as  their  natural  wants 
and  instincts  demanded.  This  fact  was  established  incontro- 
vertibly  by  cutting  away,  as  close  to  the  body  as  they  could 
be  safely  separated,  the  old  threads,  which  were  always  re- 
placed by  others  in  as  short  a  space  of  time  as  was  employed 
by  other  muscles  not  so  deprived  in  fixing  themselves. 

"  The  pinna  and  its  cancer  friend"  have  on  more  than  one 
occasion  been  made  subjects  for  poetry.  There  is  doubtless 
some  foundation  for  the  fact  of  the  mutual  alliance  between 
these  aquatic  friends  which  has  been  thus  celebrated ;  yet 
some  slight  coloring  may  have  been  borrowed  from  the  re- 
gions of  fancy  to  adorn  the  verse,  and  even  the  prose  history 
of  their  attachment  may  be  exposed  to  the  same  objection. 

These  fish  are  found  on  the  coasts  of  Provence  and  Italy, 
and  in  the  Indian  ocean.  The  largest  and  most  remarkable 
species  inhabits  the  Mediterranean  sea. 

The  scuttle-fish,*  a  native  of  the  same  seas  as  the  pinna, 
is  its  deadly  foe,  and  would  quickly  destroy  it,  if  it  were  not 
for  its  faithful  ally.  In  common  with  all  the  same  species, 
the  pinna  is  without  the  organs  of  sight,  and  could  not,  there- 
fore, unassisted,  be  aware  of  the  vicinity  of  its  dangerous 
enemy.  A  small  animal  of  the  crab  kind,  itself  destitute  of 
a  covering,  but  extremely  quick-sighted,  takes  refuge  in  the 
shell  of  the  pinna,  whose  strong  calcareous  valves  afford  a 
shelter  to  her  guest,  while  he  makes  a  return  for  this  protec- 
tion by  going  forth  in  search  of  prey.  At  these  times  the 
pinna  opens  her  valves  to  afford  him  egress  and  ingress :  if 
the  watchful  scuttle-fish  now  approach,  the  crab  returns  im- 
mediately with  notice  of  the  danger  to  her  hostess,  who, 
timely  warned,  shuts  her  door  and  keeps  out  the  enemy. 
When  the  crab  has,  unmolested,  succeeded  in  loading  itself 
with  provisions,  it  gives  notice  by  a  gentle  noise  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  shell,  and  when  admitted,  the  two  friends  feast 
together  on  the  fruit  of  its  industry.  It  would  appear  an  ar- 
duous, nay,  almost  an  impossible  task,  for  the  defenceless  and 
diminutive  crab,  not  merely  to  elude  its  enemies  and  return 


*  This  species  is  the  Octopodia,  with  eight  arms  connected  at  their  bot 
toms  by  a  membrane :  it  is  the  Polypus  of  Pliny. 


CHAP.  VIII.     SILK  PRODUCED  BY  THE  PINNA.  151 

home,  but  likewise  to  obtain  a  supply  of  provender  sufficient 
to  satisfy  the  wants  of  its  larger  companion.  The  following 
different  account  of  the  nature  of  this  alliance  is  much  more 
in  agreement  with  probability : — 

Whenever  the  pinna  ventures  to  open  its  shell,  it  is  imme- 
diately exposed  to  the  attacks  of  various  of  the  smaller  kinds 
of  fish,  which,  finding  no  resistance  to  their  first  assaults,  ac- 
quire boldness  and  venture  in.  The  vigilant  guard,  by  a  gen- 
tle bite,  gives  notice  of  this  to  his  companion,  who,  upon  this 
hint,  closes  her  shell,  and  having  thus  shut  them  in  makes  a 
prey  of  those  who  had  come  to  prey  upon  her  :  when  thus 
supplied  v/ith  food,  she  never  fails  to  share  her  booty  with  so 
useful  an  ally. 

We  are  told  that  the  sagacious  observer  Dr.  Hasselquist, 
in  his  voyage  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century  to  Pales- 
tine, which  he  undertook  for  objects  connected  with  the  study 
of  natural  history,  beheld  this  curious  phenomenon,  which, 
though  well  known  to  the  ancients,  had  escaped  the  atten- 
tion of  the  moderns. 

It  is  related  by  Aristotle*  that  the  pinna  keeps  a  guard  to 
watch  for  her,  which  grows  to  her  mouth,  and  serves  as  her 
caterer :  this  he  calls  pinnophylax,  and  describes  as  a  little 
fish  with  claws  like  a  crab.  Pliny  observes,!  that  the 
smallest  species  of  crab  is  called  the  pinnotores,  and  being 
from  its  diminutive  size  liable  to  injury,  has  the  prudence  to 
conceal  itself  in  the  shells  of  oysters.  In  another  place  he 
describes  the  pinna  as  of  the  genus  of  shell-fish,  with  the 
further  particulars  that  it  is  found  in  muddy  waters,  always 
erect,  and  never  without  a  companion,  called  by  some  pinno- 
tores, by  others  pinnophylax ;  this  being  sometimes  a  small 
squill,  sometimes  a  crab,  which  remains  with  the  pinna  for 
the  sake  of  food.  - 

The  description  of  the  pinna  by  the  Greek  poet  Oppianus, 
who  flourished  in  the  second  century,  has  been  thus  given  in 
English  verse : — 1 

"The  pinna  and  the  crab  together  dwell, 
For  mutual  succor  in  one  common  shell ; 
They  both  to  gain  a  livelihood  combine, 
'  '  That  takes  the  prey,  when  this  has  given  the  sign  ; 

From  hence  this  crab,  above  his  fellows  famed, 
By  ancient  Greeks  was  Pinnotores  named." 

It  is  said  that  the  pinna  fastens  itself  so  strongly  to  the 
rocks,  that  the  men  who  are  employed  in  fishing  it  are 
obliged  to  use  considerable  force  to  break  the  tuft  of  threads 


*  Hist.  lib.  v.  c.  15. 


t  Lib.  ix.  51.  66. 


152 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  II. 


by  which  it  is  secured  fifteen,  twenty,  and  sometimes  thirty 
feet  below  the  surface  of  the  sea. 

The  fishermen  at  Toulon  use  an  instrument  called  a  cramp 
for  this  curious  pursuit.  This  is  a  kind  of  iron  fork,  whose 
prongs  are  each  about  eight  feet  in  length  and  six  inches 
apart,  and  placed  at  right  angles  to  the  handle,  the  length  of 
which  is  regulated  by  the  depth  of  water.  The  pinnae  are 
seized,  separated  from  the  rock,  and  raised  to  the  surface  by 
means  of  this  instrument. 

The  threads  of  the  pinna  have  from  very  ancient  times 
been  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  certain  fabrics.  This 
material  was  well  known  to  the  ancients,  as  some  suppose, 
under  the  name  of  byssus,*  and  was  wrought  in  very  early 
times  into  gloves  and  other  articles  of  dress  and  ornament. 
It  appears  that  robes  were  sometimes  made  of  this  produce, 
since  we  learn  from  Procopius  that  a  robe  composed  of  byssus 
of  the  pinna  was  presented  to  the  satraps  of  Armenia  by  the 
Roman  emperor.f 

A  writer  of  the  year  1782  evidently  refers  to  the  pinnae 
marinae,  when  he  says,  "  The  ancients  had  a  manufacture  of 
silk,  and  which,  about  forty  years  ago,  was  revived  at  Tarento 
and  Regio  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  It  consists  of  a  strong 
brown  silk,  belonging  to  some  sort  of  shell,  of  which  they 
make  caps,  gloves,  stockings,  waistcoats,  &c.,  warmer  than 
the  woollen  stuffs,  and  brighter  than  common  silk.  I  have 
seen  such  kind  of  silk  in  shells  myself ;  I  think  it  was  of  the 
pecten  kind,  but  cannot  be  sure."J 

Several  beautiful  manufactures  are  wrought  with  these 
threads  at  Palermo.  They  are  in  many  places  the  chief  ob- 
ject of  the  fishery,  and  the  silk  is  found  to  be  excellent. 
The  produce  of  a  considerable  number  of  pinnae  is  required 
to  make  only  one  pair  of  stockings.  The  delicacy  of  this 
singular  thread  is  such  that  a  pair  of  stockings  made  of  it 
can  be  easily  contained  in  a  snuff-box  of  ordinary  size. 
Some  stockings  of  this  material  were  presented,  in  the  year 
1754,  to  pope  Benedict  XIV. ;  and,  notwithstanding  their  ex- 
treme fineness,  were  found  to  protect  the  legs  alike  from 
cold  and  heat.  Stockings  and  gloves  of  this  production, 
however  thin,  are  too  warm  for  common  wear,  but  are  es- 
teemed useful  in  gouty  and  rheumatic  cases.  This  great 
warmth  of  the  byssus,  like  the  similar  quality  in  silk,  results 


*  Note  D  D.  f  Procopius  de  Edif.  lib.  iii.  c.  i. 

X  The  Young  Gentleman  and  Lady's  Philosophy.  By  Benjamin  Martin, 
vol.  iii.  p.  179. 


CHAP.  VIII.    SILK  PRODUCED  BY  THE  PINNA. 


153 


probably  from  both  being  imperfect  conductors  of  heat  as 
well  as  of  electricity. 

It  is  not  probable  that  this  material  will  ever  be  obtained 
in  much  abundance,  or  that  it  will  cease  to  be  a  rarity,  ex- 
cept in  the  places  of  its  production.  It  is  never  seen  in  Eng- 
land save  in  the  cabinets  of  the  curious. 

The  appearance  and  general  characteristics  of  the  produce 
of  the  pinna,  the  spider,  and  the  silkworm,  are  so  similar,  as 
to  have  acquired  for  them  one  generic  name.  If  all  their 
constituent  parts  be  alike,  it  forms  another  among  the  numer- 
ous subjects  for  surprise  and  admiration,  excited  by  contem- 
plating the  wonderful  works  of  nature,  that  the  same  silky 
principle  can  be  alike  elaborated  from  the  fish,  the  fly,  and  the 
mulberry  leaf.* 


*  Note  E  E. 


154 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


PART  III. 
ON  THE  MANUFACTURE  OF  SILK. 

CHAP.  I. 

REELING. 

Arrangement  of  Filature.— Separation  of  different  Kinds  of  Cocoons.— De- 
scription of  Reel. — Manner  of  Reeling.— Construction  and  Proportions 
of  Reel  regulated  by  Law  in  Piedmont. — Precautions. — Size  of  Threads. 
— Regulation  of  Temperature. — Waste  Silk. — Quantity  reeled  in  a  given 
time. — Mode  of  ascertaining  Fineness  of  Thread. — Spun  Silk. — Fleuret. 
—French  inferior  to  Italians  in  the  Art  of  Reeling. — Regulations  and 
Restrictions  in  Piedmont. — Their  Oppressiveness  and  Impolicy. 

In  countries  where  silk  is  produced,  the  winding  of  co- 
coons is  generally  pursued  as  a  business  distinct  from  that  of 
rearing  the  worms ;  and  the  silken  balls  become  an  article 
of  trade  so  soon  as  the  insect  within  has  been  deprived  of  vi- 
tality by  some  one  of  the  means  already  described.  Some- 
times, indeed,  this  process  also  is  left  to  be  performed  by  the 
purchaser. 

The  building  designed  for  a  filature  should  be  lofty ;  open 
on  one  side  and  accessible  to  the  rays  of  the  sun,  while  it  is 
walled  on  the  other  side  as  a  shelter  from  cold  winds.  A  free 
passage  should  be  afforded  to  the  steam  arising  from  the 
boilers,  which  vessels  should  be  disposed  in  rows  on  either 
side  of  the  building;  by  which  arrangement  the  superintend- 
ant  can  readily  overlook  the  whole  number. 

Before  the  cocoons  can  be  reeled,  it  is  necessary  to  sepa- 
rate them  from  their  outward  floss.  This  is  very  expedi- 
tiously done  by  opening  the  floss  at  one  end,  and  protruding 
the  cocoon,  or  hard,  compact  ball,  which  is  to  be  reeled. 

Although  previously  to  selling  his  cocoons  the  vender  is  by 
law  obliged  to  separate  the  soufflons  and  perforated  cocoons 
from  the  others,  there  will  yet  always  remain  some  of  these, 
which,  added  to  the  dupions  and  choquettes,  amount  to  about 
ten  per  cent,  of  the  whole  number.  It  is  of  great  conse- 
quence that  the  cocoons  should  at  this  time  be  carefully 
classed,  according  to  their  qualities,  as  each  separate  class 
requires  a  different  treatment  in  reeling,  both  as  regards  the 
heat  applied  and  the  rapidity  of  winding. 

Good  cocoons,  white  as  well  as  yellow,  are  the  easiest 
wound.  Cocalons  call  for  the  greatest  care  and  skill :  they 
require  to  be  placed  in  cooler  water  than  the  others,  and 
then,  in  the  hands  of  an  expert  winder,  as  good  silk  may  be 


CHAP.  I. 


REELING. 


155 


produced  from  them  as  from  the  rest.  Experienced  reelers 
must  likewise  be  employed  for  dupions  and  choquettes,  which 
both  require  the  application  of  hotter  water  than  good  co- 
coons..- 

In  Piedmont,  where  silk  of  the  best  quality  is  produced, 
the  process  of  reeling"  has  long  been  conducted  by  the  em- 
ployment of  a  machine  similar  to  the  drawing  here  given. 

Fig.  7. 


A  is  a  copper  boiler  about  18  inches  long,  and  six  inches 
deep,  set  in  brickwork,  so  as  to  admit  of  a  charcoal  fire  being 
made  beneath  it :  if  other  fuel  be  used,  a  small  flue  or  chim- 
ney must  be  added  to  carry  away  the  smoke.  B  B  is  a  stout 
wooden  frame  whereon  the  several  working  parts  of  the  reel 
are  supported.  D  represents  the  reel  on  which  the  silk  is  to 
be  wound ;  a  is  the  layer  which  directs  the  position  of  the 
threads  in  their  passage  to  the  reel ;  b  c  is  the  wheel-work 
which  gives  motion  to  this  layer.  The  reel  D  is  merely  a 
wooden  spindle,  turned  by  a  crank  handle  at  one  end,  and 
having  four  arms  mortised  at  each  end  within  the  frame. 
These  arms  support  the  four  battens  or  rails  on  which  the 
silk  is  wound.  The  rails,  which  are  parallel  to  the  axis,  are 
placed  at  such  a  distance  from  it,  that  they  may  produce  a 
skein  of  proper  size  by  the  winding  of  the  silk  upon  them. 
They  are  usually  so  disposed  as  to  pass  through  the  space  of 
one  yard  at  each  revolution.  One  of  each  of  the  two  sets 
of  arms  is  made  with  hinges  to  fold  in  the  middle  of  its 
length,  in  order  that  the  rail  which  these  two  arms  support 
may  fall  in  or  approach  the  centre  as  occasion  may  require  : 
this,  by  diminishing  the  size  of  the  reel,  allows  the  skeins  of 
silk  to  be  readily  slipped  off  when  the  winding  is  completed. 

At  the  end  opposite  to  the  handle  of  the  wooden  spindle, 
and  within  the  frame  B,  there  is  placed  a  wheel  with  twenty- 


156 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


two  teeth,  giving  motion  to  another  wheel  c,  which  has  about 
double  that  number  of  teeth,  and  is  fixed  on  the  end  of  the 
inclined  axis  c  b ;  this,  at  the  opposite  end,'  has  a  wheel  b  of 
twenty-two  teeth,  which  gives  motion  to  a  horizontal  cog- 
wheel of  thirty-five  teeth.  This  last  wheel  turns  upon  a 
fixed  pivot  in  the  frame,  and  has,  near  to  its  periphery  or 
outer  rim,  a  pin,  to  which  the  wooden  rail  or  layer  a  is  at- 
tached. The  opposite  end  of  this  rail  plays  in  a  mortise  or 
opening  made  in  the  frame  B.  This  layer  is  furnished  at 
equal  distances  from  the  frame  with  two  wire  loops  or  eyes, 
through  which  the  silk  threads  are  passed  in  being  wound. 
Now,  if  motion  be  given  to  the  horizontal  cog-wheel  by 
means  of  the  other  wheels  and  inclined  axis,  when  the  han- 
dle of  the  reel  is  turned,  it  is  evident  that  this  will  cause  the 
layer  likewise  to  move  to  and  fro,  directing  the  threads 
which  pass  through  its  wire  eyes  alternately  to  the  right  and 
left,  through  a  range  equal  to  the  diameter  of  the  horizontal 
cog-wheel  to  which  it  is  attached. 

The  iron  bar  e,  which  is  fixed  over  the  centre  of  the  boiler, 
is  pierced  with  two  holes,  through  which  the  threads  are  led 
in  their  passage  from  the  boiler  to  the  layer. 

If  the  thread  of  each  cocoon  were  reeled  separately,  it 
would,  from  its  extreme  tenuity,  be  wholly  unfit  for  the  pur- 
pose of  manufacture:  several  threads  are  therefore  reeled 
together.  The  cocoons  which  are  to  be  wound  being  put 
into  the  hot  water  contained  in  the  boiler  A,  the  gummy 
matter  which  they  possess  is  softened,  so  that  the  unwinding 
of  their  threads  is  facilitated,  and  at  the  same  time  the  fibres, 
which  are  brought  together  in  the  reeling,  adhere,  and  form 
one  strong  and  smooth  thread. 

In  the  process  of  reeling,  as  often  as  the  thread  of  any 
single  cocoon  breaks,  or  comes  to  an  end,  its  place  is  supplied 
by  another ;  so  that  the  same  number  is  continually  kept  up, 
and  a  thread  of  the  same  substance  may  be  continued  to  any 
length.  The  single  filaments  which  are  thus  from  time  to 
time  added  are  not  joined  by  tying,  but  are  simply  laid  on 
the  compound  thread  to  which  they  will  adhere  by  their  gum, 
and  the  ends  being  extremely  fine  do  not  occasion  any  per- 
ceptible unevenness  in  the  spot  whereon  they  are  laid. 

It  is  of  considerable  importance  that  the  water  wherein 
the  cocoons  are  put  should  be  either  rain  water,  or  that 
which  is  obtained  from  ponds  or  slow  running  streams.  That 
denominated  hard  water,  which  is  supplied  by  springs  and 
from  wells,  usually  contains  a  large  proportion  of  earthy 


CHAP.  Z. 


REELING. 


157 


salts,  and  will  not  sufficiently  soften  the  gum,  so  that  the 
threads  would  be  liable  to  continual  fracture. 

Fire  being  applied  in  the  furnace,  the  water  in  the  boiler 
A  is  brought  nearly  to  the  point  of  boiling.  The  exact  de- 
grees of  heat  to  which  the  water  should  be  raised  do  not  ap- 
pear to  be  particularly  defined,  but  are  ascertained  only  by 
the  effects  produced,  and  are  regulated  according  to  the  ex- 
perience of  the  reeler.  If  the  silk  comes  off  in  knobs  or 
lumps,  which  are  not  fully  extended,  it  shows  that  the  water 
is  too  hot :  it  must  be  immediately  cooled,  and  the  fire  abated. 
If,  on  the  contrary,  the  silk  is  with  difficulty  drawn  from  the 
cocoons,  which  is  known  by  their  often  bounding  from  the 
boiler,  the  water  is  then  evidently  not  hot  enough  sufficiently 
to  soften  the  gum,  and  the  fire  must  be  increased. 

Two  or  three  handsful  of  cocoons  are  thrown  into  the 
boiler,  wherein  they  are  submerged  during  some  minutes  to 
soften  their  viscidity.  The  reeler  then  takes  her  seat  at  the 
side,  and  gently  presses  the  cocoons  with  a  brush  of  about 
six  inches  long,  made  of  the  finest  twigs,  or  tops  of  heath 
bound  together,  and  cut  off  evenly  at  their  ends.  By  this 
operation  the  loose  threads  of  the  balls  adhere  to  the  brush, 
and  are  drawn  out  by  its  means,  when  the  reeler  disengages 
them,  and  draws  their  ends  through  her  fingers  to  clear  them 
from  any  loose  flossy  silk.  These  preliminary  steps  are 
called  the  battue.  The  ends  of  four  or  more  of  the  threads 
thus  cleared — their  number  of  course  regulating  the  fineness 
of  the  silk  intended  to  be  wound — are  passed  through  each 
of  the  holes  in  the  iron  bar  e.  After  this,  two  of  these  com- 
pound threads,  consisting  of  four  or  more  threads  each,  are 
twisted  twenty  or  more  times  round  each  other,  in  order  that 
the  filaments  may  better  unite  together  by  these  mutual 
crossings,  and  likewise  that  the  whole  may  assume  a  cylin- 
drical form,  as  without  this  twisting  the  silk  would  be  wound 
flat  on  the  reel.  After  being  thus  passed  through  the  iron 
bar  e  and  twisted,  the  threads  are  led  through  the  wire  eyes 
of  the  layer,  and  being  thence  conducted  to  the  reel  are 
made  fast  to  its  rails.  A  boy  or  girl  is  now  employed  to  turn 
the  handle  of  the  reel :  this  must  be  performed  with  a  regu- 
lar even  motion,  and  somewhat  slowly,  until  it  is  ascertained 
that  all  the  cocoons  yield  their  threads  freely.  As  soon  as 
this  is  ascertained  to  be  going  forward  satisfactorily,  a  much 
quicker  motion  is  given  to  the  reel.  This  speed  is,  however, 
regulated  by  the  reeler  according  to  certain  indications.  If 
the  cocoons  should  bound  from  the  water  the  motion  must  be 
slackened,  and  if  knobs  or  lumps  appear,  which  show  that  the 


158 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


silk  is  yielded  by  the  cocoon  more  rapidly  than  taken  up  by 
the  reel,  its  rotations  must  be  accelerated.  It  is  the  province 
of  the  reeler  to  observe  these  signs,  and  to  regulate  accord- 
ingly the  heat  of  the  water  and  the  celerity  of  the  winding. 

The  slow  traversing  motion  of  the  layer  prevents  the 
threads  from  lying  over  each  other  on  the  reel,  until  they 
have  made  so  many  revolutions  through  the  air  as  to  dry  the 
gum  of  the  silk  sufficiently  to  prevent  the  adhering  of  the 
threads  together.  The  sizes  of  the  wheels  and  the  numbers 
of  their  teeth  are  so  regulated,  that  after  the  reel  is  covered 
for  about  the  breadth  of  three  inches  by  the  gradual  progres- 
sion of  the  layer,  half  a  revolution  of  the  horizontal  cog-wheel 
will  have  been  made,  and  thereafter  the  ]ayer  will  necessa- 
rily return  and  direct  a  second  course  of  threads  over  those 
first  laid  ;  and  so  on,  until  the  entire  length  of  silk  proper  to 
form  the  skein  has  been  wound. 

The  machine  winds  two  skeins  at  the  same  time,  which  it 
is  evident  cannot  by  this  arrangement  in  any  way  interfere 
with  each  other. 

It  is  considered  essential  to  the  production  of  good  silk, 
that  the  thread  shall  have  lost  part  of  its  heat  and  adhesive- 
ness before  it  touches  the  bar  of  the  reel.  For  this  reason, 
'*  the  Piedmontese  reelers  are  obliged  by  law  to  allow  a  dis- 
tance of  38  French  inches  between  the  guides  a  and  the  cen- 
tre of  the  reel.  The  motion  of  the  layer  is  also  regulated, 
and  must  be  moved  as  here  shown  by  a  cog-wheel,  instead 
of  by  an  endless  strap,  which  is  sometimes  used  in  other  of 
the  Italian  states,  and  which  if  suffered  to  grow  slack  will 
slip  without  moving  the  layer ;  the  threads  will' consequently 
not  lie  distinctly  and  regularly,  and  the  skein  will  be  gum^- 
med  together;  whereas  the  regularity  of  the  cog-wheels  can- 
not be  interrupted.  When  the  skeins  are  finished,  the  reel 
is  removed  from  its  frame,  and  after  being  set  to  dry  they 
are  taken  off  by  folding  the  arms  provided  with  hinges. 
Each  skein  is  at -this  time  generally  tied  round  in  two  places 
with  some  of  the  refuse  silk,  and  it  should  also  be  slightly 
gummed  in  one  part,  but  not  so  much  as  to  occasion  its  adhe- 
ring together  strongly ;  a  sufficient  quantity  causes  the  skein 
to  preserve  its  regularity ;  too  much  gum  would  occasion  the 
thread  to  break  in  the  throwing  mill.  The  silk  is  then  dou- 
bled into  a  hank,  and  is  considered  ready  for  use  or  sale. 

Although  the  process  of  reeling  is  apparently  very  simple* 
yet  some  attention  and  skill  are  required  for  the  production 
of  an  even  thread.  The  reeler  must  not  wait  until  the  thread 
of  a  cocoon  is  entirely  exhausted  before  she  puts  on  another* 


CTIAI\  I. 


REELING. 


159 


because  as  they  approach  their  termination  the  filaments  be- 
come much  liner.  It  is  necessary  to  attend  to  this  circum- 
stance, as  well  as  to  the  breaking*  of  the  threads,  that  the 
requisite  degree  of  substance  may  be  preserved  throughout. 
This  gradually  decreasing  thickness  of  the  fibres  is  in  such  a 
proportion,  that  where  half-wound  cocoons,  previously  broken, 
are  again  added,  two  such  are  considered  equal  to  one  that 
has  not  been  used.  Thus  the  union  of  three  new  and  two 
half- wound  threads  are  equal  to  silk  of  four  cocoons. 

The  balls  must  not  be  wound  off  to  the  last,  because  when 
they  approach  their  termination,  the  husk  of  the  worm,  or 
bairre,  is  carried  forward  with  the  thread  and  makes  the  silk 
foul.  When  the  silk  is  nearly  wound  off,  the  chrysalis  will 
drop  through,  and  the  ball  being  then  too  light  to  continue  in 
the  boiler,  will  rise  to  the  iron  bar  e,  and  if  not  immediately 
removed  would,  by  stopping  the  passage,  occasion  the  break- 
ing of  the  whole  thread. 

In  giving  a  proper  degree  of  attention  to  all  these  particu- 
lars, the  reeler  will  find  unceasing  occupation.  She  must, 
besides,  be  always  prepared  with  new  ends  of  cocoons  to  re- 
place those  which  break  or  come  to  an  end ;  and  from  time  to 
time  it  is  necessary  to  throw  an  additional  supply  of  cocoons 
into  the  boiler  for  this  object.  Even  this  little  point  requires 
to  be  done  with  judgment ;  for  if  any  of  the  cocoons  should 
remain  too  long  in  hot  water,  their  gum  would  be  dissolved, 
and  the  silk  would  come  from  them  unequally.  The  balls 
when  in  the  boiler  must  be  frequently  pressed  under  the  wa- 
ter, that  their  whole  surfaces  may  be  equally  wetted ;  if  this 
is  not  attended  to,  the  principal  part  of  each  ball  would,  from 
its  buoyancy,  remain  dry  and  stubborn,  while  the  portion  im- 
mersed would  be  too  much  softened. 

Silk  may  be  wound  of  any  size,  from  one  cocoon  to  one 
hundred  :  but  it  is  difficult  to  unite  more  than  thirty  in  one 
thread.  The  art  consists  in  winding  an  even  thread  ;  for  as 
the  filament  of  each  ball  is  not  of  one  uniform  tenuity  through- 
out, the  skill  of  the  reeler  is  required  so  to  arrange  and  bring 
the  threads  together,  that  the  same  thickness  may  be  contin- 
uously preserved  throughout  the  skein.  This  perfect  equality 
is  so  difficult  of  attainment,  that  the  degree  of  substance  in 
the  silk  is  never  exactly  defined  ;  and,  with  the  exception  of 
a  thread  of  two  cocoons,  which  is  so  called,  silks  are  not  dis- 
tinguished as  those  produced  from  three,  four,  or  five  fibres, 
but  are  said  to  be  of  three  to  four,  four  to  five,  or  five  to  six 
cocoons.    Coarser  skeins  are  not  even  so  nicely  defined ;  but 


160 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


are  called  from  twelve  to  fifteen,  from  fifteen  to  twenty  co- 
coons, and  so  on. 

The  reeler  must  always  during"  the  operation  of  winding 
have  at  her  side  a  bowl  of  cold  water,  wherewith  she  may 
from  time  to  time,  as  occasion  arises,  abate  the  heat  of  the 
water  in  the  boiler.  It  is  not  of  more  consequence  to  the 
facility  of  reeling,  than  it  is  to  the  quality  of  the  silk  produced, 
that  the  water  should  be  of  proper  temperature.  If  too  hot, 
the  thread  proves  what  is  technically  called  dead,  and  is  with- 
out firmness;  and  should  there  have  been  a  deficiency  of 
heat,  the  ends  wTill  not  be  well  joined,  and  the  silk  will  be 
harsh.  A  thread  cannot  without  difficulty  be  wound  when 
only  cold  water  is  employed ;  and  the  adhesion  of  the  fibres 
of  which  it  is  composed  is  so  slight,  that  the*  thread  breaks  by 
the  application  of  the  smallest  force,  and  the  least  moisture 
will  separate  its  filaments ;  those  of  silk  wound  from  hot  wa- 
ter cannot  be  separated  except  by  the  same  agency. 

When  the  reeling  of  the  skeins  is  finished,  the  boiler  A 
must  be  cleaned ;  all  the  chrysalides  which  have  been  strip- 
ped of  their  covering  must  be  removed,  together  with  such 
cocoons  as  still  retain  a  portion  of  silk.  These  latter  must  be 
throwm  into  a  basket,  into  which  the  loose  silk  which  is  dis- 
engaged in  making  the  battue  is  likewise  placed ;  these  are 
considered  as  waste  silk,  and  must  be  carded  and  spun  in 
order  to  form  threads.  The  water  in  the  boiler  must  be 
changed  four  times  a  day  when  dupions  and  choquettes  are 
wound.  If  only  good  cocoons  are  reeled,  twice  is  considered 
often  enough  for  its  renewal.  The  chrysalides  and  husks 
contained  in  the  cocoons  very  speedily  make  the  water  foul ; 
it  is  therefore  that  these  frequent  changes  are  needed  ;  for  if 
the  water  employed  be  not  tolerably  clear,  it  will  be  in  vain 
to  look  for  the  production  of  fine  glossy  silk. 

The  weight  of  silk  that  can  be  reeled  in  any  given  time  is 
governed  by  the  degree  of  quickness  wherewith  the  reeler 
can  add  fresh  ends  for  broken  or  expended  cocoons.  It  makes 
little  difference  whether  twenty  cocoons  are  united  to  form 
one  thread,  or  the  same  number  be  employed  to  produce  four 
skeins,  provided  both  descriptions  are  wound  with  an  equal 
regard  to  evenness  and  good  quality.  There  is  a  degree  of 
dexterity  required  in  adding  the  ends,  which  can  only  be  ac- 
quired by  practice  ;  and  very  few  reelers  are  sufficiently  ex- 
pert to  give  the  necessary  attention  to  three  skeins  at  the 
same  moment. 

A  woman  experienced  in  the  business  of  reeling,  with  the 
assistance  of  a  girl  to  turn  the  wheel  and  attend  to  the  fire. 


CHAP.  I. 


REELING. 


161 


can  with  ease  wind  off  one  pound  of  silk,  consisting  of  four 
to  five  cocoons,  of  the  most  perfect  quality,'  in  one  day.  Two 
skeins  are  wound  upon  her  reel  at  the  same  time;  when 
these  are  completed,  they  are  set  in  the  shade  to  dry,  without 
being-  removed  from  the  reel,  which,  for  this  purpose,  can  be 
readily  disengaged  from  the  frame.  These  two  skeins  will 
occupy  the  morning's  labor.  In  the  afternoon  a  fresh  reel  is 
employed,  and  two  other  skeins  are  wound,  which  again  are 
set  apart  until  the  morning,  that  they  may  dry  before  re- 
moval from  the  wheel.  Where  silk  of  more  ordinary  quality 
is  wound,  one  person  can  as  easily  attend  to  the  reeling  of 
four,  six,  or  even  more  skeins,  placed  at  the  same  time  on  a 
machine  of  larger  dimensions.  A  coarse,  foul,  and  ordinary 
silk  will  be  the  produce,  six  or  eight  pounds  of  which  may  be 
obtained  by  one  day's  labor  of  a  woman  and  her  young  at- 
tendant. 

When  skeins  of  silk  thus  completed  become  articles  of 
sale,  the  fineness  of  their  thread  is  determined  by  means  less 
liable  to  deceive  than  the  unassisted  eye  of  man.  A  reel  so 
constructed,  as  that  the  circumference  of  the  skein  when 
wound  upon  it  shall  be  of  a  certain  known  admeasurement,  is 
made  to  perform  a  given  number  of  revolutions,  usually  400, 
when  the  skein  is  removed  and  accurately  weighed.  The 
comparative  weights  of  silk,  whereby  their  fineness  is  de- 
noted, are  estimated  in  weights  called  deniers,  twenty  of 
which  are  equal  to  sixteen  and  a  half  grains. 

It  is  evident  that  the  smaller  the  tendency  of  the  threads 
to  break,  the  greater  is  the  proportion  of  work  that  can  be  ac- 
complished by  the  reeler;  and  this  forms  one  among  the 
many  reasons  for  choosing  sound  and  good  cocoons. 

The  breaking  of  the  single  filaments  arises  principally 
from  using  ill-formed  cocoons,  and  from  the  improper  regu- 
lation of  the  heat  of  the  water.  The  silk  of  dupions  is  so  in- 
terlaced that  it  perpetually  breaks,  rendering  these  the  most 
troublesome  and  unprofitable  of  any  quality  for  winding. 

The  whole  thread  is  sometimes  broken  in  its  passage  from 
the  cocoons  to  the  reel,  through  the  stopping  of  the  loops  in 
the  layer  by  knobs  as  before  described,  or  by  the  reel  being 
turned  with  a  jerking  motion.  Even  in  this  case,  however, 
the  silk  does  not  require  to  be  rejoined  by  a  knot,  but  is  suf- 
ficiently attached  if  the  parts,  on  being  brought  together,  are 
slightly  twisted. 

Evenness  of  thread,  and  the  absence  of  knobs  or  knots, 
which  among  manufacturers  give  to  silk  the  name  of  being 
foul,  are  the  leading  points  which  determine  its  value.  The 
02 


162 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


best  mode  for  judging  whether  silk  be  clean  is  to  open  the 
skein,  and  look  down  upon  it  in  the  same  direction  with  the 
light.  By  this  examination  any  foulness  which  exists  will  be 
readily  perceived,  and  a  very  little  practice  will  enable  a  per- 
son, by  a  mere  coup  <Fceil,  to  judge  with  accuracy  upon  the 
essential  qualities  of  the  silk. 

Royal  cocoons,  which  are  those  which  have  been  pierced 
by  the  breeding  moths,  are  never  reeled,  but  are  spun  with 
the  soufflons  and  perforated  cocoons.  These  are  all  boiled  in 
water,  the  soufflons  for  half  an  hour;  perforated  cocoons 
somewhat  longer ;  and  royal  cocoons  for  a  full  hour.  The 
latter  kind  are  opened  while  yet  damp ;  the  other  two  de- 
scriptions are  first  dried  and  then  beaten  to  disengage  them 
from  their  chrysalides,  which  are  reduced  to  a  powder.  The 
cocoons  thus  prepared  are  placed  in  a  distaff,  and  opened 
by  taking  each  end  and  drawing  out  the  fibres  at  arm's 
length.  The  produce  of  these  balls,  when  worked,  is  called 
fleuret.  If  after  boiling  and  beating  the  cocoons  are  carded, 
the  fleuret  will  be  more  beautiful  and  of  a  brighter  color, 
but  of  a  higher  price,  owing  to  the  waste  which  attends  this 
operation.  It  is  considered  a  very  tolerable  day's  work  for  a 
good  spinner  to  complete  one  ounce  of  fleuret.  Of  this  de- 
scription of  silk,  royal  cocoons  produce  the  best,  next  the 
perforated  cocoons,  and,  lastly,  the  soufrlons.  A  very  inferior 
kind  of  silk  is  also  produced  by  spinning  the  coarse  floss  and 
the  refuse  of  the  reeling. 

Although  those  cocoons  from  which  the  moths  have  been 
allowed  to  escape  are  always  consigned  to  the  hands  of  the 
spinner  instead  of  the  reeler,  it  would  appear  from  the  testi- 
mony of  one  who  took  much  trouble  to  ascertain  the  point, 
that  great  part,  at  least,  of  these,  might  be  advantageously 
wound.  "  I  have,"  says  the  reverend  Mr.  Swayne,  "  taken 
the  pains  to  unravel  the  cocoons  after  the  insects  had  left 
them,  and  found  I  that  the  thread  was  not  discontinued  in 
any  one  instance,  unless  when  I  broke  it  myself.  It  was 
often  so  much  entangled  that  I  could  not  proceed,  yet  some- 
times I  have  wound  off  nearly  the  whole  cocoon.  If  put  in 
water,  the  silk  will  be  immediately  entangled."  One  year 
this  gentleman  bred  one  hundred  worms,  and  allowed  them 
all  to  pierce  their  cocoons :  he  was  able  to  wind  off  fifty  of 
these,  which  weighed  exactly  one  hundred  grains,  and  the 
waste  silk  for  spinning  which  remained  after  the  reeling 
weighed  thirty-three  grains. 

Information  obtained  from  an  accurate  and  very  intelligent 
observer,  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the  establishments  for- 


CHAP.  I. 


REELING. 


163 


reeling  silk  in  France  are  much  inferior  in  their  arrange- 
ments to  those  of  Italy.  The  principal  cause  assigned  for 
this  inferiority,  is  the  want  of  some  general  regulations, 
which  in  some  measure  would  control  the  mode  of  conduct- 
ing the  process.  It  is  said  that  the  Piedmontese  silk  owes 
the  reputation  which  it  has  so  long"  enjoyed,  and  which  it 
continues  to  sustain,  to  regulations  imposed  by  the  govern- 
ment at  an  early  period  after  the  introduction  of  silk  cultiva- 
tion into  that  country,  and  which  are  still  very  strictly  en- 
forced. The  tendency  of  these  regulations  is  not  only  to  ob- 
tain good  silk,  but  to  procure  also  regularity  in  size,  and  uni- 
formity in  the  working  of  the  machines  employed  for  reeling. 
The  proprietor  of  a  silk  filature  in  Piedmont,  before  he  com- 
mences the  business  of  reeling,  is  obliged  to  announce  to  a 
local  board  of  commissioners  the  number  of  boilers  he  intends 
to  use,  and  the  thickness  and  weight  of  silk  which  he  means 
to  produce  in  the  season.  A  smaller  quantity  than  five  hun- 
dred pounds'  weight  of  silk  is  not  allowed  to  be  reeled  in  a 
single  filature.  The  various  establishments  are  visited, 
during  the  season  of  reeling,  by  the  members  of  the  commis- 
sion; and  should  any  person  be  found  operating  upon  a 
greater  or  lesser  number  of  cocoons  than  he  has  previously 
reported,  or  otherwise  in  any  way  infringing  the  regulations, 
a  fine  is  imposed.  Nothing  of  this  kind  exists  in  France ; 
and  in  consequence  there  is  found  an  infinite  variety  in  the 
size  of  the  reel  and  the  thickness  of  the  silk.  Some  wind 
'off  their  cocoons  with  cold  water,  others  with  hot,  and  others 
again  use  steam  for  softening  the  tenacity  of  the  balls. 
Most  cultivators  of  silk  in  France  reel  the  cocoons  they 
have  produced,  even  though  these  should  not  weigh  more 
than  twenty  pounds.  In  many  places  the  reelers  are  paid 
according  to  the  weight  of  silk  wound,  and  without  refer- 
ence to  its  quality ;  a  system  which  naturally  tends  to  care- 
lessness and  improper  haste,  as  well  as  to  the  production  of 
only  the  coarser  qualities  of  the  material.  In  this  case,  the 
number  of  fibres  continually  being  wound  renders  it  impossi- 
ble to  supply  deficiencies  with  sufficient  quickness  and  regu- 
larity; and,  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  this  defective 
process,  the  silk  is  wasteful  and  irregular,  demanding  in  all 
the  after-stages  of  its  manufacture  much  additional  time, 
labor,  and  expense. 

There  are  exceptions  to  this  faulty  manner  of  conducting 
the  process  of  reeling  in  France,  and  particularly  in  the  de- 
partment of  the  Gard  ;  the  produce  of  some  filatures  in  that 
district  being  considered  nearly  equal  to  the  best  of  Italy. 


164 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


The  silks  produced  in  Ardeche,  and  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Rhone,  are  coarser,  and  less  carefully  reeled.  As  an  excep- 
tion, however,  there  is  produced  a  superior  description  of 
white  silk  in  the  upper  part  of  the  department  of  Ardeche, 
which  is  purchased  by  the  lace  manufacturers  of  Normandy, 
and  which  sells  for  more  than  50/!  per  pound :  a  few  years 
back  it  commanded  as  high  a  price  as  150/!  per  pound. 

In  a  letter  published  in  the  Precurseur  of  Lyons  on  the 
5th  of  February,  1830,  and  which  is  understood  to  express 
the  opinion  of  the  best  informed  merchants  and  manufac- 
turers of  that  city  on  the  quality  of  French  grown  silk, 
there  is  much  valuable  information  to  be  found  on  the  subject 
of  the  silk  trade.  It  is  stated  in  this  letter,  that,  with  the 
exception  of  the  produce  of  some  filatures  in  the  depart- 
ment of  the  Gard,  and  of  one  or  two  others,  destined  to  be 
converted  into  organzine  by  the  proprietors  themselves, 
and  whose  interest  consequently  leads  them  to  bestow  the 
requisite  degree  of  care,  none  of  the  silk  of  France  possesses 
the  desirable  regularity  of  fibre  which  distinguishes  the  silk 
of  Briance. 

Previously  to  its  undergoing  the  process  of  throwing,  the 
raw  silk  of  France  is  submitted  to  examination  and  selec- 
tion, in  order  to  class  the  different  descriptions  found  in  the 
same  parcel.  This  is  both  a  tedious  and  expensive  work, 
which  is  wholly  unnecessary  when  employing  Italian  raw 
silk. 

The  interference  of  the  Piedmontese  government,  as 
above  mentioned,  may,  at  first  view,  appear  to  have  been 
beneficial  to  the  silk  trade  of  that  country,  and,  so  consid- 
ered, might  lead  to  the  belief  that  similar  intermeddling 
would  be  equally  advantageous  to  France :  the  soundness  of 
this  opinion  may,  however,  be  doubted.  The  effect  of  the 
regulations  described  is  to  create  a  monopoly  in  the  hands  of 
large  and  wealthy  proprietors  at  the  expense  of  the  poorer 
cultivators,  who  are  unjustly  restricted  from  the  conversion 
of  their  own  produce,  and  are  therefore  unable  to  derive  all 
the  advantage  that  might  attend  upon  their  labor.  The  ef- 
fect of  this,  and  every  other  kind  of  oppression,  is  to  destroy 
the  springs  of  industry,  and  consequently  to  diminish  the 
annual  produce. 

In  France,  the  small  farmer  employs,  probably,  the  least 
efficient  part  of  his  family,  in  a  pursuit  which  somewhat 
promotes  their  worldly  advantage,  but  which,  under  restric- 
tions similar  to  those  imposed  by  the  Sardinian  government, 
would  not  offer  sufficient  inducement  to  command  his  atten- 


CHAP.  I. 


REELING. 


165 


tion.  Having  reared  a  few  thousand  silkworms,  he  is  not 
restricted  for  the  sale  of  their  raw  produce  to  one  or  two 
wealthy  proprietors  of  filatures,  whose  interests  would  lead 
them  to  combine  together  and  depress  the  price  of  his  pro- 
duce ;  and  although,  for  a  time,  his  attempts  at  reeling  may 
fall  short  of  the  perfection  of  the  art,  this  is  the  lesser  evil 
of  the  two,  and  one  which,  in  the  nature  of  things,  must  di- 
minish. The  powerful  spur  of  interest,  which  is  wanting  in 
the  other  case,  is  continually  inciting  him  towards  profi- 
ciency, that  he  may  turn  his  industry  to  the  greatest  profit ; 
and  the  principle  appears  incontrovertible,  that  individuals 
will  always  judge  better  for  themselves  on  such  subjects 
than  any  government  can  judge  for  them. 


CHAP.  II. 

THROWING. 

Art  brought  from  Italy.— Improvements  since  made.— Singles.— Tram.-— 
Organzine.— Boiling  to  discharge  Gum.— Italian  Thrown  Silk.— Reasons 
for  its  Superior  duality. — High  Protecting  Duty  on  Importation. — Re- 
duction thereof.— Improved  duality  of  English  Thrown  Silk.— Great  Ex- 
tension of  the  Business. — Improvements  in  Throwing  Machinery  not 
adopted  abroad. — Low  Wages  the  Occasion  of  this. — Expense  of  Organ- 
zining, — Waste  in  the  Process. 

It  has  been  already  shown,  that  the  English  throwsters 
were  indebted  to  Italy  for  their  knowledge  of  a  most  mate- 
rial part  of  the  art  of  preparing  raw  silk  for  the  weaver,  and 
that  the  mills  first  erected  for  this  purpose  by  Messrs. 
Lombe  at  Derby  in  the  year  1718  were  copied  from  ma- 
chinery then  used  in  Piedmont..  The  English  reader,  who 
has  been  accustomed  to  watch  with  admiration  and  pride  the 
progress  of  ingenuity  among  his  countrymen,  will  not  be 
surprised  to  learn,  that  the  throwing  mills  then  erected,  al- 
though justly,"  at  that  time,  the  objects  of  admiration,  are 
now  rendered  obsolete  by  improvements  subsequently  made. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  the  country  whence  our  enterprising 
countryman  first  drew  his  plans,  the  same  arrangements  are 
continued  to  the  present  day,  without  improvement  or  altera- 
tion of  any  kind.  Even  in  France,  where  the  silk  manufac- 
ture has  been  one  of  the  staples  of  the  country,  and  where 
.there  is  no  deficiency  of  either  ingenuity  or  enterprise,  no 
improved  machinery  had,  up  to  a'  very  recent  period,  been 
erected  for  the  preparation  of  organzine,  although  it  forms 


166 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


FART  III. 


one  of  the  most  important  materials  used  in  the  production 
of  most  of  their  fabrics,  and  is  one  of  indispensable  necessity 
in  some  branches  of  the  manufacture.  It  is  believed  that, 
to  the  present  moment,  the  whole  of  the  organzine  used  in 
France  for  the  manufacture  of  their  best  fabrics,  continues  to 
be  drawn  from  the  other  side  of  the  Alps. 

Raw .  silk,  before  it  can  be  used  in  weaving,  is  made  to 
take  one  of  three  forms,  being  converted  into  either  singles, 
tram,  or  organzine. 

The  first,  which  is  the  most  simple  process,  consists  in 
merely  twisting  the  raw  silk,  in  order  to  give  more  firmness 
to  its  texture  ;  and,  in  fact,  during  its  progress  towards  the 
formation  of  the  two  other  preparations,  raw  silk  must  pass 
through  the  intermediate  state  of  singles. 

Tram  is  formed  by  twisting  together,  not  very  closely,  two 
or  more  threads  of  raw  silk,  and  this  description  most  com- 
monly forms  the  weft  or  shoot  of  manufactured  goods. 

The  formation  of  organzine,  which  is  principally  used  in 
the  warp,  that  is,  to  form  the  length  of  the  goods,  is  a  more 
elaborate  performance,  and  requires  a  more  detailed  descrip- 
tion than  the  two  former,  in  giving  which,  it  is  hoped,  that  a 
correct  idea  may  be  also  communicated  of  the  preparation 
of  tram  and  singles. 

To  do  this,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  attempt  the  descrip- 
tion of  machinery  on  an  extended  scale,  since  the  requisite 
explanations  can  be  given  with  greater  clearness,  and  with 
equal  correctness,  by  means  of  the  simplest  mechanical  ar- 
rangements. With  this  view,  all  notice  of  the  recent  im- 
provements which  have  been  adopted  in  the*  most  considera- 
ble throwing  mills  will  be  suspended,  until  the  simpler  ope- 
rations which  preceded  those  improvements  have  been  de- 
tailed. Not  that  there  is,  in  reality,  any  complexity  in  even 
the  most  elaborate  engines  for  throwing  silk,  but  to  any  per- 
son not  much  accustomed  to  the  examination,  or  conversant 
with  the  uses,  of  machinery,  the  mere  exhibition  of  numer- 
ous cranks  and  shafts  crowded  into  a  narrow  space,  and  giving 
motion  to  a  multiplicity  of  wheels,  has  a  tendency  to  confuse 
the  mind,  and  to  create  an  appearance  of  complexity  and 
confusion,  where,  in  truth,  all,  when  well  understood,  proves 
to  be  beautifully  distinct  and  simple. 

In  the  descriptions  that  will  be  found  in  this  volume,  of  the 
various  processes  used  for  the  preparation  of  silken  threads, 
and  for  their  conversion  into  useful  fabrics,  as  well  as  in  all 
explanations  of  the  various  mechanical  contrivances  whereby 
these  processes  are  effected  or  simplified,  the  use  of  all  tech-» 


CHAP.  II. 


TIIItOWING. 


167 


nical  terms  is  as  much  as  possible  avoided.  Where  these  occur, 
as  sometimes  they  must,  in  order  to  avoid  prolixity  or  unne- 
cessary repetitions,  such  explanations  of  their  meaning  and 
value  will  have  been  previously  furnished,  as,  it  is  hoped, 
will  preserve  the  general  reader  from  imbibing  those  false 
conceptions  and  impressions,  which  never  fail  to  bewilder 
the  mind,  and  thus  render  it  difficult  to  acquire  any  clear 
comprehension  of  the  subject. 

The  operations  which  raw  silk  undergoes  in  its  progress 
towards  organzine  may  be  divided  into  six  distinct  processes. 
1st.  Winding  it  from  the  skeins,  upon  what  are  called  bob- 
bins, in  the  winding  machines. 
2d.  Sorting  it,  when  so  wound,  into  its  different  qualities. 
3d.  Spinning  or  twisting  each  individual  thread  in  the  mill. 
4th.  Bringing  together  upon  fresh  bobbins,  two  or  more 

threads  already  spun  or  twisted. 
5th.  Twisting  these  two  or  more  threads  together  by  means 
of  the  mill. 

6th.  Sorting  the  skeins  of  twist  or  organzine,  according  to 
their  different  degrees  of  fineness. 

The  first  operation,  that  of  winding  the  raw  silk,  used  al- 
ways to  be  performed  by  means  of  a  winding  machine,  the 
construction  of  which  may  be  easily  understood,  if  reference 
is  made  to  the  diagram  here  given.  The  machines  com- 
monly used  for  winding  are  continued  to  a  considerable 
length,  so  as  to  wind  a  great  number  of  skeins  at  the  same 
time,  but  to  simplify  this  description  only  a  part  of  the  ma- 


Fig.  8. 


168  SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  III. 


chine  is  drawn,  the  remaining  parts  being  only  reduplica- 
tion's of  that  which  is  given. 

Each  skein  of  raw  silk  must  be  extended  upon  a  slight 
reel  A  A,  which  is  called  a  swift.  It  is  formed  of  four  rods 
fixed  through  an  axis,  so  as  to  form  a  sort  of  double  wheel 
of  eight  spokes,  which  are  so  disposed  that  four  of  them 
make  right  angles  with  each  other  and  stand  opposite  and 
parallel  to  the  four  spokes  of  the  answering  part  of  the 
wheel.  These  parallel  spokes  are  then  connected  together 
by  bands  of  string,  thus  forming  a  kind  of  lantern  wheel ; 
and  the  bands  can  be  so  placed  as  to  vary  the  effective  diam- 
eter of  the  wheel,  in  order  to  suit  exactly  the  size  of  the 
skein  to  be  fixed  upon  it.  This  provision  is  rendered  neces- 
sary by  the  circumstance,  that  the  raw  silk  of  most  countries 
is  wound  so  as  to  be  equal  in  circumference  to  a  yard,  accord-  ' 
ing  to  the  standard  measure  of  the  country ;  and  as  some  dif- 
ference exists  in  these  standards,  the  reel  which  would  suit 
the  silk  imported  from  one  quarter  would,  without  some  such 
provision,  be  unsuited  to  that  of  any  other  country. 

The  swifts  may  be  made  to  revolve  freely  upon  wire 
pivots  ;  but  as  it  is  needful  to  wind  the  silk  from  them,  and 
to  deliver  it  upon  the  bobbins,  with  an  uniform  degree  of 
tension,  simple  means  are  employed  for  creating  the  neces- 
sary amount  of  friction,  either  by  means  of  a  spring  or  by 
hanging  a  looped  wire  upon  the  axis  withinside  the  reel. 
To  this  loop  a  small  leaden  weight  is  attached.  B  B  are 
what  are  called  the  bobbins;  these  are  made  of  wood,  and 
consist  of  a  hollow  axis,  on  each  extremity  of  which  is  fixed 
a  circular  disc,  , the  uses  of  which  discs  are  to  cause  the  revo- 
lution of  the  bobbin,  in  a  manner  which  will  be  described, 
and  to  confine  the  silk  upon  the  hollow  axis.  These  bobbins 
can  be  easily  placed  in  or  withdrawn  from  the  frame.  D  is 
called  the  layer.  This  is  a  light  wooden  rod,  having  wire 
eyes  fixed  in  it,  one  opposite  to  each  bobbin,  through  which 
eye  the  end  of  the  thread  upon  the  reel  is  passed  when  it  is 
attached  to  the  bobbin.  This  layer  has  a  lateral  motion  com- 
municated to  it,  by  means  of  a  crank  fixed  upon  the  cross 
spindle  E,  which  crank  is  turned  by  two  bevelled  wheels 
fixed  at  the  end  of  the  horizontal  spindle  G.  The  whole  is: 
put  in  motion  by  the  bevelled  wheel  on  the  uprighc  shaft  Fy 
which  is  connected  with  another  bevelled  wheel  on  the  spin- 
dle G.  This,  revolving,  carries  with  it  the  wheels  or  discs  H 
H ;  and  the  discs  of  the  bobbins  resting  upon  these  are  car- 
ried round  by  the  friction  caused  by  their  own  weight,  and 
occasion,  consequently,  the  delivery  of  the  silk  from  3ie  reels 


CHAP.  II. 


THROWING. 


169 


upon  the  bobbins.  The  motion  of  the  layer  causes  this  de- 
livery to  be  uniform  over  the  axes  of  the  bobbins.  The  con- 
stant attendance  of  children  upon  this  winding  machine  is 
requisite,  in  order  to  join  the  ends  of  any  threads  which  may 
be  broken  in  winding,  and  when  the  skeins  are  exhausted,  to 
place  new  ones  upon  the  swifts.  When  the  bobbins  are  filled, 
they  are  lifted  out  of  the  frame,  and  empty  ones  are  placed 
in  their  stead,  to  which  the  skeins  being  attached,  the  opera- 
tion is  continued.  During  the  time  occupied  in  renewing 
the  skeins  upon  the  swifts,  or  of  removing  and  replacing  the 
bobbins,  the  process  is  still  continued  with  the  unexhausted 
swifts  and  unfilled  bobbins,  each  being  in  that  respect  inde- 
pendent of  every  other. 

The  third  operation,  that  of  spinning  or  twisting  the 
thread  thus  wound  upon  the  bobbins,  is  performed  with  the 
throwing  mill.  The  particular  construction  of  this  mill  is 
frequently  varied,  but  the  principle  of  its  action  being  always 
the  same,  it  would  be  useless  to  describe  more  than  one  of  its 
modifications.  Mills  of  great  power  and  considerable  extent 
are  generally  used  for  this  purpose  in  England,  but  on  the 
continent  it  is  by  no  means  unusual  for  artisans  to  purchase 
raw  silk,  and  to  employ  their  wives  and  children  in  preparing 
it  for  weaving.  The  machines  which  are  then  used  are  ne- 
cessarily small,  and  are  turned  by  hand ;  from  the  form  in 
which  it  is  usual  for  them  to  arrange  the  spindles,  the  appa- 
ratus is  called  by  them  the  oval.  This  throwsting  mill  is 
now  chosen  for  description  in  consequence  of  its  simplicity. 

Fig,  9. 


[ 


170 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


The  number  of  spindles  which  it  contains  is  thirteen,  and 
of  these,  to  avoid  confusion,  only  six  are  shown  in  the  dia- 
gram ;  the  remainder  would  be  arranged  behind  those  which 
are  seen.  Upon  each  of  the  spindles  the  hollow  axis  of  a 
bobbin,  before  described,  is  placed,  so  that  the  bobbin  has 
liberty  to  turn  freely  upon  the  spindle.  Upon  each  spindle, 
just  above  the  bobbin,  a  piece  of  hard  wood  is  so  fixed  by  a 
pin  as  to  cause  the  wood  to  revolve  with  the  spindle.  To 
this  wood  is  fixed  a  piece  of  wire  called  a  flyer,  6,  bent  in 
the  form  here  given.  At  each  extremity  of  the  flyer  an  eye 
is  formed ;  of  these  the  lower  eye  stands  opposite  the  middle 
of  the  bobbin,  and  the  upper  eye  is  exactly  over  the  centre 
and  a  few  inches  above  the  top  of  the  spindle.  The  thread 
from  the  bobbin  is  passed  through  both  these  eyes,  and  also 
through  another  wire-eye,  fixed  in  an  oval  frame  L,  which 
has  a  traversing  motion  to  and  fro,  communicated  to  it  by 
means  of  a  crank,  or  an  eccentric  pin,  k.  This  is  fixed  in  a 
cog-wheel,  turned  by  a  pinion  upon  the  perpendicular  axis 
E,  the  end  of  the  rail  I  being  supported  upon  a  roller,  to 
cause  its  more  easy  and  regular  motion,  so  that  the  threads 
are  guided  with  regularity  to  the  reel  K,  in  the  same  manner 
as  by  the  layer  to  the  bobbins  in  the  winding  machine  before 
described.  Motion  is  communicated  from  the  crank  B  to  the 
spindles,  by  means  of  a  wheel  D,  connected  with  a  pinion  on 
the  upper  end  of  the  vertical  axle  E,  which  also,  at  its  lower 
end,  has  a  drum  F  to  receive  the  endless  strap  or  band  a  a. 
This  encompasses  the  oval  frame  G,  and  gives  motion  to  all 
the  spindles,  being  so  confined  by  the  rollers  d  and  a  as  to 
press  with  the  requisite  degree  of  force  upon  the  spindles, 
and  to  give  to  all  of  them  an  uniform  celerity. 

It  is  now  evident,  that  every  revolution  of  the  spindle  and 
flyer  must  give  a  twist  to  the  thread  drawn  from  the  bobbin. 
Whether  the  twist  shall  be  hard  or  slack  depends  upon  the 
comparative  celerity  of  the  spindles  and  bobbins,  and  this 
proportion  is  regulated  by  the  relative  sizes  of  the  wheel  h 
and  the  pinion  i,  whence  the  reel  and  bobbin  receive  their 
motion.  For  different  manufacturing  purposes  silk  must  be 
thrown  or  twisted  with  different  degrees  of  hardness ;  this  is 
provided  for  by  the  power  of  changing  the  wheel  and  pinion 
h  and  i  for  others  of  different  proportional  diameters. 

For  the  purpose  of  clearer  elucidation,  one  of  the  spindles 
is  shown  without  a  bobbin,  while  the  rest  are  all  mounted, 
and  supposed  to  be  in  action.  The  skeins  upon  the  reel 
should  be  made  to  an  uniform  length,  and  this  is  attained  by 


CHAP.  II. 


THROWING. 


171 


a  train  of  wheels  consisting"  of  a  pinion  n  fixed  on  the  princi- 
pal spindle  R,  turning  a  wheel  o,  which  has  a  pinion  fixed  to 
and  turning  with  it,  giving  motion  to  a  larger  wheel  p.  This, 
again,  has  another  smaller  wheel  upon  its  spindle,  with  a 
pin  fixed  in  it,  so  that  at  every  revolution  it  raises  a  hammer 
and  strikes  upon  a  bell  s,  whereby  the  attendant  has  notice  of 
the  quantity  wound  on  the  skeins. 

When  the  machine  is  employed  for  the  first  operation  of 
twisting  raw  silk  for  organzine,  which  requires  a  strong  and 
close  twist,  the  wheel  h  must  be  of  greater  and  the  pinion  i 
of  less  diameter  than  are  here  represented,  in  order  that  the 
reel  K  and  the  bobbins  may  receive  a  slower  motion,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  speed  of  the  spindles. 

The  silk  is  now  in  the  form  of  singles,  the  only  difference 
between  which  and  the  single  twist  in  course  of  preparation 
for  organzine,  besides  the  degree  of  hardness  noticed  above, 
is,  that  in  the  latter  process  the  crank  must  be  turned  in  an 
opposite  direction,  so  as  to  give  a  reverse  motion  to  the  ma- 
chinery. Organzine  silk  is  of  the  nature  of  rope,  where  the 
combined  strands  are  twisted  in  an  opposite  direction  to  that 
given  to  the  separate  threads,  whereas  singles  and  tram  are 
twisted  only  in  one  direction,  similarly  to  twine,  or  to  the  in- 
dividual strands  of  which  the  larger  rope  is  made. 

When  silk  is  intended  to  be  dyed  in  the  skein,  the  twisting 
in  this  machine  is  but  slight,  and  its  direction  must  of  course 
depend  upon  its  ulterior  destination,  whether  for  tram  or  for 
organzine.  Silk  thread  intended  for  organzine  is,  in  this 
first  operation,  twisted  in  a  left-hand  direction. 

The  next  operation  is  to  bring  two,  three,  or  more  of  these 
twisted  threads  together  upon  one  bobbin.  The  number  of 
the  threads  depends  of  course  upon  the  substance  which  it  is 
intended  to  give  to  the  organzine,  and  a  careful  sorting  of 
the  threads  must  be  made,  so  as  to  bring  together  such  only 
as  are  of  an  uniform  texture.  To  effect  this,  a  machine  is 
used,  very  similar  to  the  winding  machine  already  described. 
Instead  of  gathering  the  silk  from  the  bobbins  on  a  reel  in  its 
first  twisting  in  the  throwing  machine,  when  the  object  is  to 
prepare  organzine,  it  is  usual  to  transfer  it  to  other  bobbins. 
In  the  operation  of  doubling,  these  bobbins  are  placed  in 
front  of  the  winding  machine,  where,  of  course,  they  take 
the  place  of  the  swifts,  and  stand  two  or  three  or  more  in  a 
row,  according  to  the  number  of  strands  to  be  subsequently 
brought  together  in  the  organzine,  in  the  manner  shown  by 
the  following  figure, 


172  SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  III. 

Fig.  10. 


The  threads  in  the  bobbins  are  passed  over  one  and  be- 
neath another  wooden  rail  m  and  n,  with  both  of  which  they 
are  brought  in  close  contact.  These  rails  being  covered  with 
cloth  serve  to  cleanse  the  silk  in  its  passage,  equally  well 
with  the  less  artificial  means  offered  by  the  fingers  of  the 
person  employed  in  winding. 

In  their  passage  or  transference  from  one  set  of  bobbins  to 
the  other,  each  thread  passes  through  a  small  piece  of  wood 
e,  which  slides  freely  up  and  down  in  a  mortised  hole  through 
the  fixed  board  /.  The  use  of  these  slides,  which  are  equal 
in  number  with  the  threads  to  be  brought  together,  will  soon 
be  seen.  All  the  threads  are  then  passed  through  the  wire- 
eye  d  of  the  layer  D,  which  it  is  more  convenient  to  place 
behind  the  bobbin,  causing  the  wire  to  be  bent  over  it,  as 
shown  in  the  figure.  The  bobbins  to  be  filled,  rest  upon,  and 
take  their  revolving  motion  from  the  wheels  F,  as  in  the 
winding  machine.  The  degree  of  tension  given  to  the  silk 
threads  in  winding  causes  them  to  raise  the  sliders  e.  Should 
any  one  of  the  threads  break,  the  slider  through  which  it 
passed,  no  longer  supported  by  it,  strikes  upon  the  bent  lever 
t  v,  which,  moving  upon  its  centre  w,  causes  the  hook  v  to 
catch  into  the  notches  made  for  that  purpose  in  the  disc  of 
the  bobbin  B,  and  this  immediately  stops  its  motion.  The 
winding  of  the  required  number  of  threads  thus  proceeds 
with  as  much  certainty  as  the  winding  of  one  would  do.  It 
is  the  business  of  the  attendant  to  repair  the  broken  thread, 
when  the  slide  e  being  again  raised,  the  weight  x,  attached 
to  the  bent  lever  t  vf  raises  the  end  t,  frees  the  notched  bob- 
bin from  the  hook  v,  and  the  machine  is  once  again  in  motion. 

The  bobbins,  thus  filled  with  double  or  triple  threads,  are 
once  more  carried  to  the  throwsting  machine,  and  are  there 
spun  or  twisted  together  by  an  operation  similar  to  that  al- 
ready described,  with  the  sole  difference  before  mentioned, 
of  giving  a  reversed  direction  to  the  spindles  and  flyers.  In 
this  operation,  the  silk,  now  converted  to  organzine,  is  trans- 
ferred to  reels  instead  of  bobbins,  and  then,  being  made  up 


chap,  ii. 


THROWING. 


173 


into  skeins,  is  sorted  for  sale  or  use.  Previously  to  this, 
however,  and  in  order  to  prevent  its  crinkling  when  re- 
moved, a  tendency  to  which  it  has  acquired  in  the  twisting-, 
the  reels  are  subjected  for  two  or  three  minutes  to  the 
action  of  steam,  which  is  found  effectually  and  permanently 
to  set  the  twist.  This  is  a  modern  improvement ;  it  having 
formerly  been  the  practice  to  steep  the  reels  in  boiling  water, 
a  more  tedious  and  less  effectual  operation.  The  degree  of 
hardness  given  to  the  twist  is  varied  according  to  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  is  intended,  and  depends,  as  already  de- 
scribed, upon  the  relative  diameters  of  the  wheel  and  piriion 
h  and  i  of  the  throwsting  machine. 

The  silk  thus  thrown  is  called  hard  silk,  and  must  be  boiled 
in  order  to  discharge  the  gum,  which  otherwise  renders  it 
harsh  to  the  touch,  and  unfit  to  receive  the  dye.  The  silk 
is  boiled  for  about  four  hours  in  a  plentiful  proportion  of 
water,  into  which  a  quantity  of  soap,  equal  to  about  one-third 
of  the  weight  of  the  silk,  has  been  placed  ;  this  assists  in  dis- 
solving the  gum,  and  in  rendering  the  silk  soft  and  glossy. 

By  this  boiling,  the  silk,  which  has  already  in  the  previous 
operations  of  organzining  lost  in  the  proportion  of  from  five  to 
seven  and  a  half  out  of  each  one  hundred  pounds  of  its  weight, 
is  further  diminished  to  twelve,  and  sometimes  to  eleven  and 
a  half  ounces  for  every  pound.  Considerable  carefulness  is 
called  for  in  this  operation,  to  prevent  injury  to  the  threads 
from  burning,  which  sometimes  will  occur,  and  occasion  ma- 
terial loss  to  the  manufacturer,  or  to  the  dyer,  to  whom  the 
process  is  intrusted.  If,  by  reason  of  the  viscid  gum  contain- 
ed in  the  silk,  the  skeins  adhere  to  the  bottom  of  the  copper 
in  which  they  are  boiled,  the  heat  is,  by  that  means,  necessa- 
rily intercepted  in  its  passage  to  the  water,  and  accumulated 
in  the  silk,  which  is  in  consequence  partially  carbonised  and 
spoilt.  Even  when  the  injury  thus  occurring  to  the  staple 
of  the  thread  is  less  apparent,  it  frequently  discovers  itself 
when  put  into  the  loom,  causing  infinite  trouble  and  delay  to 
the  weaver,  who  often,  in  such  a  case,  cannot  weave  in  a 
working  day  of  twelve  hours  more  than,  in  the  absence  of  in- 
jury to  the  silk,  he  would  have  woven  in  half  that  time ;  and 
the  injury  to  him  is  therefore  one  of  very  serious  consequence. 

After  this  boiling,  the  silk  is  well  washed  in  a  current  of 
clear  water  to  discharge  the  soap ;  and  when  subsequently 
dried,  although  its  weight  is  so  sensibly  diminished,  its  bulk 
is,  on  the  contrary,  visibly  increased,  and  it  is  seen  to  have 
acquired  that  peculiar  glossiness  and  softness  of  texture 
which  form  its  principal  and  characteristic  beauty. 


174 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


The  gum  which  has  been  now  discharged  served  the  use- 
ful purpose  of  causing  the  adhesion  of  the  fibres,  as  originally 
wound  from  the  cocoons.  This  end  is  now  more  effectually 
attained  by  the  twist  the  thread  has  received  in  the  throwing 
mill  ;  and  the  gum  would  henceforth  be  considered  as  a  for- 
eign matter,  impairing  the  beauty  and  destroying  the  flexi- 
bility of  its  texture.  Were  the  boiling  performed  before  the 
twisting,  this  operation  could  scarcely  be  at  all  completed, 
and  at  best  only  an  entangled  woolly  or  downy  substance 
would  be  obtained,  wholly  unfit  for  manufacturing  purposes. 
Before  a  thread  of  useful  texture  could  be  then  got,  the  silk 
would  require  to  be  spun  by  some  process  similar  to  that  fol- 
lowed with  cotton  wool,  or  such,  indeed,  as  is  necessary  with 
the  waste  silk  drawn  from  the  cocoons  in  the  first  operation 
of  reeling,  and  with  those  cocoons  which  are  injured  or  re- 
served for  breeding,  and  which  it  is  found  difficult  or  impos- 
sible to  wind  in  the  filature. 

It  has  always  been  asserted,  and,  if  the  assertion  be  correct, 
it  is  a  curious  fact,  that,  notwithstanding  the  great  advantage 
of  superior  machinery,  the  English  throwster  is  unable  to 
produce  organzine  silk  equal  in  quality,  and  at  as  small  an 
expense,  or  with  as  little  waste,  as  that  prepared  in  Italy.  It 
was  long  held,  and  is  still  believed  by  many,  that  the  Italian 
throwster,  who  is  also  most  usually  a  dealer  in  silk,  reserves 
the  finest  qualities  for  his  own  operations,  and  exports  only 
that  which  is  inferior.  Supposing,  however,  that  the  differ- 
ence in  the  value  of  the  thrown  silk  is  such  as  is  stated,  it  is 
perhaps  nearer  to  the  truth  to  believe  that  the  climate  may 
influence  the  quality  of  a  substance  so  delicate,  since  it  is 
well  known  that,  during  certain  states  of  the  atmosphere,  the 
throwing  of  silk  is  performed  in  this  country  at  a  compara- 
ative  disadvantage.  Or  it  may  be,  that  the  fibre  of  the  silk 
is  injuriously  affected  by  its  being  packed  before  twisting,  or 
by  the  lengthened  voyage  to  which  it  is  subjected  in  its 
transit  to  this  country  ;  and  the  higher  estimation  uniformly 
evinced  by  our  throwsters  for  silk  of  the  new  crop,  over  that 
which  has  lain  for  some  time  in  the  warehouse,  would  seem 
to  indicate  another  cause  for  the  alleged  superiority  of  Italian 
organzine.  It  is  owing  to  this  preference  of  foreign  thrown 
silk,  that,  in  the  face  of  a  high  protecting  duty,  it  has  always 
met  with  a  certain,  although  limited,  demand  from  the  Eng- 
lish silk  weaver.  Prior  to  the  year  1824  this  protection  in 
favor  of  the  English  throwster  amounted  to  more  than  nine 
shillings  per  pound ;  and  when,  by  the  removal  of  all  save 
the  merely  nominal  duty  of  one  penny  per  pound  on  raw 


CHAP.  II. 


THROWING. 


175 


silk,  such  a  spur  was  given  to  this  branch  of  the  manufac- 
ture, that  the  quantity  of  silk  thrown  in  England  was  doubled, 
the  importation  of  foreign  thrown  silk,  although  burdened 
with  a  duty  of  seven  shillings  and  sixpence  per  pound,  was 
not  diminished,  but  rather  the  reverse.  This  impost  in  favor 
of  the  home  throwster  was  afterwards  reduced  to  five  shil- 
lings, and  subsequently,  in  the  year  1829,  to  three  shillings 
and  sixpence  per  pound,  without  any  material  alteration  in 
the  quantity  imported  following  these  abatements.  These 
facts  must  be  held  to  confirm  the  correctness  of  the  belief, 
that  foreign  organzine  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  and  in  some 
branches,  necessary  to  the  operations  of  the  weaver,  who, 
therefore,  will  purchase  it,  whatever  may  be  the  duty  where- 
with it  is  burdened ;  so  that,  in  truth,  any  impost  would  be 
nearly  inoperative  as  a  protection  to  the  English  throwster, 
while  it  would  constitute  a  considerable  hardship  to  the 
weaver.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  this  preference  of  Ital- 
ian thrown  silk  is  fast  disappearing;  and  there  are  now 
many  among  the  principal  English  manufacturers  who  make 
use  of  English  thrown  silk  exclusively  for  the  manufacture 
of  every  description  of  goods. 

The  act  of  parliament,  which  was  passed  in  the  year 
1824,  whereby  the  duty  on  raw  silk  was  all  but  abolished, 
and  that  on  thrown  silk  was  so  materially  reduced,  occasioned, 
as  has  already  been  remarked,  considerable  animation 
among  the  silk  throwsters,  who  for  some  time  experienced 
great  difficulty  in  keeping  pace  with  the  demands  of  the 
manufacturers.  This  state  of  things  naturally  led  not  only 
to  a  great  extension  of  their  establishments,  and  to  the  erec- 
tion of  new  throwing  mills  in  various  parts  of  the  country, 
but  called  likewise  the  attention  of  ingenious  men  to  the  im- 
provement of  machinery  already  employed  in  the  processes 
of  throwing,  and  to  the  proposing  of  new  modes  of  effecting 
these  processes.  It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  any  new 
and  material  invention  has  hitherto  been  brought  into  use  in 
throwing  machinery ;  the  improvements  effected  being,  with 
some  comparatively  immaterial  exceptions,  confined  to  the 
more  perfect  formation  and  execution  of  machinery  already 
invented.  The  rude  wooden  wheels  and  drivers  which 
were  long  used  have  now  given  place  to  well  constructed 
cast-iron  gearing ;  the  old  rough  wrought-iron  spindles  are 
now  superseded  by  others  of  steel,  accurately  turned ;  and 
metallic  bearings  have  been  substituted  for  the  barbarous 
wooden  shoulders  with  which  the  throwsters  were  formerly 
contented.    The  consequence  has  been,  that  at  a  less  ex 


176 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


pense  of  power  the  spindles  have  been  made  to  revolve  with 
treble  and  even  fourfold  speed ;  thus  economizing  time,  ma- 
chinery, and  labor. 

Hitherto  these  improvements  do  not  appear  to  have  found 
their  way  across  the  Channel ;  and  the  French  and  Italian 
throwsters  are  still  contented  if  their  spindles  revolve  300  to 
400  times  in  each  minute,  while  ours  are  performing*  com- 
monly 1800,  and  sometimes  even  3000,  gyrations  in  the 
same  space  of  time.  Our  French  rivals  are  fully  aware  how 
greatly  the  English  throwsters  are  in  advance  of  them  in 
this  particular,  but  they  have  not  the  same  inducement  that 
exists  in  this  country  to  incur  a  heavy  first  expense  in  altera- 
tions, that  they  may  secure  a  prospective  advantage.  From 
the  lower  wages  paid  for  labor  in  that  country,  such  advan- 
tage would  not  be  in  any  proportion  to  that  realized  by  our 
manufacturers.  Wherever  the  wages  of  labor  are  highest, 
there  always  will  be  found  the  greatest  encouragement  for 
the  exercise  of  ingenuity  in  abridging  its  amount.  The 
wages  paid  in  Lyons  to  men  employed  in  silk-mills  does  not 
average  more  than  six  shillings  and  sixpence  per  week ;  and 
the  earnings  of  women  and  girls,  who,  taken  together,  form 
.five  sixths  of  the  number  of  hands  employed,  scarcely  exceed 
three  shillings  per  week,  for  which  pittances  the  whole  are 
required  to  labor  fourteen  hours  per  diem. 

The  French  throwsters  have  another  disadvantage.  They 
are  dealers  as  well  as  manufacturers,  buying  the  raw  silk  and 
selling  their  organzine  through  brokers  to  the  silk-men.  The 
mills  being  situated  in  the  centre  of  the  silk-producing  dis- 
trict, their  purchases  are  made  from  country  farmers,  who 
bring  to  market  only  small  quantities,  seldom  more  than  fifty, 
and  most  generally  not  exceeding  ten  pounds  of  raw  silk  in  a 
parcel.  On  this  account  the  throwster  must  incur  additional 
labor  and  expense  in  sorting  the  skeins,  so  as  to  produce  a 
tolerably  regular  thread  of  organzine.  In  this  they  frequently 
succeed  but  indifferently ;  and  the  consequent  disadvantage 
in  their  sales  is  poorly  compensated  by  the  two  or  three  per 
cent,  which  they  reckon  upon  gaining  in  the  weight  from  the 
draught  of  the  scale  in  making  so  many  small  purchases. 

The  expense  of  organzining  in  France,  as  ordinarily 
conducted,  is  said  not  to  exceed  two  shillings  and  nine-pence 
to  three  shillings  per  pound,  including  the  loss  from  waste. 
MM.  Chartron,  pere  ctfds,  at  St.  Vallier,  whose  silk  estab- 
lishment is  reputed  to  be  the  most  extensive  in  France,  and 
who  conduct  the  manufacture  in  all  its  various  branches, — 
reeling  from  the  cocoons,  throwing,  and  weaving, — estimate 


CHAP.  II. 


THROWING. 


177 


the  expenses  of  the  throwing  processes  higher  than  the  price 
here  mentioned.  They  convert  their  raw  silk  into  organ- 
zine  for  use,  and  not  for  sale,  and  consequently  may  be  sup- 
posed to  employ  more  carefulness  in  the  operations  than  is 
bestowed  in  other  establishments  differently  circumstanced, 
drawing  a  more  than  equivalent  advantage  therefrom  in  the 
greater  facility  which  accompanies  the  subsequent  stages  of 
their  manufacture.  Where  the  requisite  degrees  of  atten- 
tion have  been  bestowed  in  reeling,  sorting,  and  throwing, 
the  French  grown  silk  is  undoubtedly  of  very  fine  quality, 
being  fully  equal  to  the  Italian.  The  French  manufacturers 
themselves  give  a  preference  to  the  production  of  their  own 
soil  and  industry. 

The  charge  made  at  present  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lon- 
don for  organzining  Italian  silk  is  about  five  shillings  and  six- 
pence per  pound,  the  throwster  taking  upon  himself,  out  of 
this  price,  to  make  good  to  the  merchant  the  value  of  the 
waste,  whatever  it  may  prove.  If  the  owner  of  the  silk  is 
content  to  bear  this  loss  of  weight,  the  throwster  will  abate 
one  shilling  per  pound  of  his  charge.  The  waste  varies  ma- 
terially in  silk  produced  from  different  filatures,  and  is  much 
greater  with  that  brought  from  Italy  than  is  incurred  with 
the  East  India  company's  importations  from  Bengal.  The 
loss  sustained  in  the  processes  of  throwing  this  kind  of  silk 
is  said  sometimes  not  to  exceed  two  per  cent,  upon  the 
weight  of  the  raw  material ;  thus  giving  evidence  of  the 
great  degree  of  carefulness  which  has  been  used  in  the  ori- 
ginal reeling  of  the  cocoons. 

In  a  throwing-mill  situated  in  the  neighborhood  of  London, 
which  has  been  recently  erected,  and  where  due  attention 
has  been  paid  to  the  fitness  of  the  machinery,  there  are  1600 
swifts  employed,  with  a  proportionate  number  of  spindles. 
These  are  all  put  in  motion  by  a  steam  engine,  on  the  high- 
pressure  principle,  of  six-horse  power,  having  a  boiler  of  ca- 
pacity equal  to  the  production  of  steam  for  an  engine  of 
double  that  force.  The  surplus  steam  is  employed  in  warm- 
ing and  drying  the  factory.  In  this  establishment,  which  is 
very  carefully  and  ably  conducted,  there  are  employed  120 
people,  mostly  young  girls ;  and  the  quantity  of  silk  thrown 
during  the  whole  year,  the  works  being  constantly  employed, 
is  about  13,000  pounds'  weight.  The  weekly  performance 
varies  somewhat  according  to  the  quality  of  the  material  un- 
der conversion,  and  also  with  the  hygrometric  state  of  the  at- 
mosphere; for  which  reason  the  yearly  working  is  stated, 
rather  than  fall  into  any  unintentional  misrepresentation  by 
giving  the  result  of  only  one  week's  operations. 


178 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


CHAP.  III. 
PLAIN  WEAVING. 

Antiquity  of  the  Art— Involved  in  Obscurity.— Little  Improvement  in 
Weaving  Apparatus. — Indian  Manner  of  Weaving. — Simple  Loom. — 
Mode  of  its  Action. — Warping  Machine. — Mounting  the  Loom. — Shuttle. 
— Methods  of  Weaving.— Riband  Weaving.— Engine  Loom. 

The  art  of  combining  and  interlacing  fibrous  substances 
with  a  view  to  the  formation  of  cloth  is  of  the  very  highest 
antiquity,  so  that  its  origin  is  involved  in  deep  obscurity.  It 
is  impossible  to  adjudge  to  any  one  people  the  merit  of  its 
first  discovery :  it  is  indeed  highly  probable,  that  many  com- 
munities might,  with  perfect  justice,  lay  claim  to  this  merit. 
The  same  wants,  and  the  possession  of  nearly  similar  means 
for  their  gratification,  might  naturally  lead  to  a  discovery  of 
the  method  whereby  those  means  could  be  rendered  available. 
The  testimony  of  almost  every  traveller  who  has  explored 
new  regions  acquaints  us  with  the  fact  that  weaving,  in  some 
form  or  other,  has  been  invented  and  pursued  in  almost  every 
country,  where  the  inhabitants  are  led  by  the  nature  of  the 
climate  to  seek  protection  for  their  bodies  from  its  in- 
clemency. 

It  is  probable  that  in  its  earliest  form,  weaving  consisted 
merely  in  the  intermixture  of  substances  which  had  under- 
gone little  or  no  previous  preparation.  That  the  first  invent- 
ed cloth  was  composed  of  rushes,  or  straws,  or  of  shreds  of 
the  bark  and  fibrous  parts  of  trees  or  of  plants,  which  needed 
not  the  previous  operation  of  spinning.  It  must  have  formed 
a  most  important  epoch  in  the  progress  of  any  country,  when 
its  inhabitants  first  came  to  the  knowledge,  that  some  among 
those  fibrous  substances  were  capable  of  being  so  united  by 
twisting  as  to  form  continuous  and  unbroken  threads,  whose 
strength  allowed  of  their  taking  the  place  of  ruder  materials. 

The  obscurity  wherein  the  whole  art  of  spinning  and 
weaving  is  involved  prevents  the  formation  of  any  opinion 
concerning  the  first  adoption  of  silk  among  the  substances 
employed  in  this  manner.  In  the  east,  the  high  antiquity  of 
the  pursuit  of  rearing  silkworms  has  already  been  establish- 
ed ;  and  it  would  form  a  very  useless  subject  of  speculation 
to  inquire  how  soon,  in  that  portion  of  the  globe,  this  pursuit 
followed  the  discovery  of  the  weaver's  art.  It  is  well  known 
that  among  European  nations  the  weaving  of  linen  and  wool- 
len cloths  was  practised  and  brought  to  a  considerable  state 


CHAP.  III. 


PLAIN  WEAVING. 


179 


of  advancement  before  they  arrived  at  any  knowledge  of  the 
existence  of  such  a  substance  in  nature  as  silk ;  when,  there- 
fore, fabrics  wrought  from  this  curious  and  beautiful  filament 
first  appeared  among  the  Greeks,  it  found  them  prepared, 
as  has  been  shown,  to  re-model  the  ccstly  substance  into 
draperies  of  more  moderate  expense ;  and  when,  at  a  still 
later  period,  the  unwrought  material  was  obtained,  there  was 
no  longer  any  difficulty  in  converting  it  to  purposes  at  once 
of  usefulness  and  embellishment. 

The  machine  employed  for  enabling  the  weaver  to  perform 
his  labors  has,  up  to  very  recent  times,  been  the  object  of  but 
little  change  or  improvement.  In  England,  where  mechan- 
ical science  has  long  been  made  the  handmaid  of  the  arts  in 
almost  all  branches  of  industry,  every  improvement  which 
has  been  introduced  in  the  mechanism  of  the  loom  is  compar- 
atively recent ;  and  for  many  of  these  improvements  we  have 
been  indebted  to  foreign  invention,  rather  than  to  the  con- 
trivances of  native  ingenuity.  Looms  exactly  similar,  both 
in  form  and  arrangement  of  parts  to  those  which  have  been 
used  time  out  of  mind  by  the  weaving  craft,  are  still  to  be 
seen  in  daily  occupation,  preferred  even,  for  every  purpose  to 
which  they  can  be  made  available,  by  the  laboring  artisan. 

Simple  as  are  these  looms,  they  can  yet  be  favorably  con- 
trasted with  the  rude  contrivances  still  pursued  in  India, 
where  the  wretched  weaver  performs  his  labors  in  the  open 
air,  choosing  his  station  under  trees,  whose  shade  may  protect 
him  from  the  scorching  rays  of  the  sun.  Here,  extending 
the  threads  which  compose  the  warp  of  his  intended  cloth 
lengthwise,  between  two  bamboo  rollers,  which  are  fastened 
to  the  turf  by  wooden  pins,  he  digs  a  hole  in  the  earth  large 
enough  to  contain  his  legs  wThen  in  a  sitting  posture ;  then, 
suspending  to  a  branch  of  a  tree  the  cords  which  are  intended 
to  cause  the  reciprocal  raising  and  depressing  of  the  alternate 
threads  of  his  warp,  he  fixes  underneath,  and  connected  with 
the  cords,  two  loops,  into  which  inserting  the  great  toe  of 
either  foot  he  is  ready  to  commence  his  operations.  The 
shuttle,  wherewith  he  causes  the  cross  threads  or  woof  to  in- 
terlace the  warp,  is  in  form  like  a  netting  needle,  and  being 
somewhat  longer  than  the  breadth  of  the  warp,  is  made  to 
perform  the  office  of  a  batten,  by  striking  the  threads  of  the; 
woof  or  shoot  close  up  to  each  other. 

With  this  rude  apparatus  the  patient  Indian  succeeds  m 
weaving  fabrics,  which,  for  delicacy  of  texture,  cannot  be 
-  surpassed,  and  can  hardly  be  rivalled  by  the  European 
weaver,  even  when  his  labors  are  aided  by  the  most  elaborate 


180 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


fart  nr. 


machinery.  But  it  is  only  in  climates  where  the  absolute 
natural  wants  of  man  are  few,  and  under  systems  of  govern- 
ment where  the  oppressions  of  the  dominant  caste  deprive 
the  unhappy  bulk  of  the  people  of  all  means  for  attaining 
more  than  suffices  for  the  barest  supply  of  those  wants,  that 
such  labors  can  be  so  performed.* 

The  art  of  weaving  varies  but  little,  whatever  may  be  the 
material  which  is  the  subject  of  the  manufacture.  The 
principal  difference  discernible  in  the  construction  of  looms 
intended  for  the  weaving  of  silken  or  of  woollen  fabrics  con- 
sists in  the  greater  strength  and  stability  required  for  the  lat- 
ter machine,  in  consequence  of  the  less  delicate  nature  of  the 
substance  employed. 

The  simple  loom,  ordinarily  used  in  weaving  plain  silks,  is 
similar  to  the  following  representation : — 

Fig.  11. 


A  is  the  beam  or  yarn-roll,  on  which  the  threads  which 
form  the  warp  are  wound,  after  being  regularly  spread  in  a 
manner  which  will  be  described;  B  is  the  cloth-beam  or 
breast-roll,  to  which  the  ends  of  the  warp  are  also  attached, 
and  on  which  the  woven  silk  is  wound  when  finished ;  C  is  a 


*  Note  F  F. 


CHAP.  III. 


PLAIN  WEAVING. 


181 


weight  attached  to  the  frame  of  the  loom,  and  suspended  over 
the  yarn-roll  to  produce,  by  the  friction  of  its  cord,  the  requi- 
site tension  of  the  threads  of  the  warp ;  D  E  are  treadles,  on 
which  the  weaver  presses  his  feet  alternately;  and,  as  the 
treadle  D  is  attached  to  the  heddle*  or  harness  d  d,  while  the 
other  treadle  E  is  attached  to  the  heddle  e  e,  it  will  be  evi- 
dent that  the  depression  of  each  treadle  will  correspondingly 
influence  the  position  of  its  heddle.  The  two  heddles  d  d 
and  e  e  are  each  formed  of  two  horizontal  sticks,  connected 
through  their  whole  extent  by  numerous  small  cords  of  an 
equal  length ;  and  the  two  heddles  are  so  united  by  a  rope 
and  pulley,  as  shown  in  the  drawing,  or  by  any  other  con- 
venient apparatus,  that  the  depression  of  one  must  cause  the 
raising  of  the  other.  These  heddles,  which  are  commonly 
called  the  harness  of  the  loom,  are  furnished  with  loops  at  the 
points  where  they  will  be  intersected  by  the  warp,  each  in- 
dividual thread  of  which  is  passed,  in  regular  succession, 
through  the  cords  of  one  or  other  of  the  heddles,  so  that 
each  alternate  thread  of  the  warp  is  passed  through  the  loops 
of  the  one  heddle,  while  the  intermediate  threads  are  passed 
between  the  cords  of  that  one,  and  through  the  loops  of  the 
other  heddles.  It  is  now  evident  that  the  depression  of  the 
heddle  d  d,  by  means  of  the  treadle  D,  will  cause  the  depres- 
sion of  all  the  threads  of  the  warp  which  pass  through  its 
loops,  and  at  the  same  time  will  raise  the  heddle  e  e,  together 
with  all  the  intermediate  threads  of  the  warp  which  pass 
through  its  loops,  leaving,  between  the  two  divisions  of 
threads,  a  space  of  about  two  or  three  inches,  which  is  called 
the  shed,  for  the  passage  of  the  shuttle.  A  modern  improve- 
ment substitutes  for  the  loops  small  metallic  eyes,  through 
which  the  warp  threads  are  passed,  and  by  this  means  the 
wearing  of  the  threads  is  in  some  measure  avoided  :  these 
eyes  are  called  mails.  The  frame  F  G  G  H  is  called  the 
batten  or  lay,  and  for  greater  clearness  is  shown  by  a  separate 
drawing. 

This  batten  is  suspended  by  its  bar  F  from  the  upper 
framing  of  the  loom  in  such  a  manner  that  it  will  swing  to 
and  fro  as  on  a  centre  of  motion.  A  shelf,  called  the  shuttle- 
race,  is  formed  by  making  the  bottom  bar  H  broader  than 
the  side  rails  G  G,  so  that  it  projects  about  an  inch  and  a  half 
beyond  them  on  the  side  furthest  from  the  breast-roll.  The 

*  This  part  of  the  apparatus  is  known  in  some  parts  of  the  country  by  the 
name  of  Healds,  in  other  places,  as  in  London,  the  weaver  uses  the  distinc- 
tive name  of  Lames,  but  as  that  of  Heddle  appears  to  be  most  generally  ap- 
plied, the  latter  name  will  be  used  preferably  in  this  volume. 

Q 


182 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  IHe 


ends  of  this  shuttle-race  are  prolonged  by  boards,  which  form 
troughs  or  boxes  I  I,  in  each  of  which  is  placed  a  piece  of 
wood  or  thick  leather,  K  K,  called  a  pecker  or  driver,  and 
these  drivers  are  made  to  traverse  on  small  guide  wires  fixed 
between  the  side  rails  G  G  and  the  ends  of  the  troughs  1 1. 
The  drivers  are  united  by  a  slack  string  fastened  to  each, 
and  meeting  at  the  handle  J.  L  is  the  reed  which  is  com- 
posed sometimes  of  small  portions  of  split  reeds  or  canes,  but 
most  frequently  of  flattened  steel  or  brass  wires.    These  are 


Fig.  12. 


fixed,  like  the  teeth  of  a  comb,  in  a  frame  which  rests  upon 
the  shuttle-race  H,  and  the  threads  of  the  warp  are  passed 
through  the  interstitial  spaces  of  the  reed.  These  are  cov- 
ered by  a  top  piece,  having  a  longitudinal  groove  along  its 
lower  side,  and  which  is  called  the  lay-cap.  M  M  {fig.  11.) 
are  cylindrical  bars  of  wood  made  smooth,  which  are  placed 
horizontally  between  the  alternate  threads  of  the  warp,  to 
prevent  their  becoming  by  any  means  entangled.  Sometimes 
three  of  these  sticks  are  used,  and  then  one  of  them  is  insert- 
ed in  the  shed  and  drawn  to  its  proper  station,  while  the 
threads  of  the  warp  are  actuated  by  one  treadle,  and  the  other 
two  are  introduced  when  the  other  treadle  is  depressed.  By 
this  means  a  longitudinal  crossing  of  the  threads  of  the  warp 
is  effected  which  renders  them  still  less  liable  to  entangle- 
ment. N  is  the  weaver's  seat,  and  being  hung  by  rounded 
ends,  resting  in  corresponding  brackets  fixed  to  the  framing, 
the  position  of  this  seat  accommodates  itself  to  the  conve- 
nience of  the  weaver  in  the  different  movements  of  his  labor. 


CHAP.  III. 


PLAIN  WEAVING. 


183 


It  must  be  lifted  out  when  the  weaver  either  takes  or  quits 
his  seat  at  the  loom,  and  can  he  readily  replaced. 

The  operation  of  warping-  is  one  which  must  be  performed 
with  careful  accuracy,  as  an  uniform  tension  of  each  thread 
of  the  warp  is  essential  to  the  perfection  of  woven  fabrics. 
Some  conception  may  be  formed  of  the  carefulness  required 
in  this  part  of  the  weavers  labor,  when  it  is  considered  that 
a  piece  of  fine  silk,  whose  width  is  not  greater  than  twenty 
inches,  frequently  has  the  breadth  of  its  warp  made  up  of 
more  than  eight  thousand  threads,  each  one  of  which  must 
be  so  accurately  disposed  in  its  proper  station  as  to  avoid  en- 
tanglement or  confusion  throughout  its  whole  extent.  In 
former  times  this  operation  was  effected  by  extending  the 
threads  at  length  in  a  field,  in  which  manner  it  is  still  per- 
formed in  China,  and  by  the  native  weavers  in  India.  It  was 
a  considerable  improvement  when,  instead  of  this  tedious 
process,  a  frame  was  employed  on  which  the  threads  were 
extended  and  wound  backwards  and  forwards  over  pegs. 
This  mode,  however,  was  still  very  tedious,  and  therefore  ex- 
pensive, besides  requiring  a  ceaseless  vigilance  on  the  part 
of  the  persons  employed  to  preserve  the  regularity  of  the 
threads.  To  meet  these  evils,  the  warping  machine,  which 
will  now  be  described,  was  invented. 

It  consists  of  a  tressel,  upon  which  are  placed  a  number  of 
bobbins :  these  are  arranged  in  rows ;  and  it  is  usual  to  wind 
together  the  contents  of  forty-six  bobbins.  The  thread  from 
each  of  these  is  drawn  over  a  wire,  and  passed  through  a 
perforated  piece  of  wood,  whence  the  threads  are  conducted 
altogether  to  a  large  reel.  This  is  supported  in  a  frame,  and 
it  turns  by  means  of  a  fixed  pulley  placed  at  the  lower  ex- 
tremity of  its  vertical  axis,  whence  an  endless  band  passes  to 
the  groove  of  a  horizontal  wheel,  which  is  fixed  to  a  spindle 
and  turned  by  a  handle.  A  child  seated  upon  a  stool  (to 
which  the  horizontal  wheel  is  fixed)  gives  motion  to  this 
wheel,  and  sets  the  whole  in  action,  drawing  the  threads 
from  the  bobbins,  and  transferring  them,  assembled  together, 
to  the  warping  machine.  In  order  to  distribute  the  warp 
over  the  reel,  the  perforated  piece  of  wood  is  so  attached  to 
an  upright  post  of  the  frame,  as  to  slide  freely  upon  it,  and 
being  suspended  to  the  spindle  by  a  cord,  which  passes  over 
a  pulley,  the  rotations  of  the  spindle  by  winding  upon  itself 
and  therefore  shortening  this  cord  raise  the  piece  of  wood  so 
as  to  distribute  the  warp  evenly,  in  a  spiral  form,  over  the 
surface  of  the  reel,  without  one  part  lapping  upon  another. 


184 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


When  the  requisite  length  is  reeled  off  the  bobbins,  the 
threads  are  tied  together  and  cut. 

The  warp  is  now  composed  of  threads  of  an  equal  length, 
and  when  drawn  from  the  reel  is  wound  into  the  form  of  a 
ball  in  readiness  for  the  cane  spreader  or  turner  on  to  fix,  or 
mount  it  in  the  loom.  As  the  warp  is  required  to  be  of 
a  greater  length  than  the  reel  contains  when  one  spiral  has 
been  wound  upon  its  surface,  the  threads  are  then  turned 
over  studs  placed  at  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  reel  for  that 
purpose ;  and  a  reverse  motion  being  given  to  the  reel,  the 
wooden  piece  sinks  gradually  by  the  unwinding  of  its  spindle. 
The  threads  are  then  delivered  from  the  bobbins,  and  laid  off 
in  a  descending  spiral  upon  the  reel ;  and  this  operation  may 
be  again  reversed  and  repeated  until  a  sufficient  length  of 
warp  is  obtained. 

In  mounting  the  loom,  that  is,  in  fixing  the  warp  prepara- 
tory to  the  commencement  of  actual  weaving,  the  first  ope- 
ration is  to  roll  regularly  upon  the  beam,  or  yarn-roll,  the  dif- 
ferent portions  of  warp  threads  thus  brought  together,  and 
which  are  known  by  the  weavers  as  portees,  and  this  is  called 
beaming.  To  effect  this,  two  or  more  persons  must  be  em- 
ployed. The  instrument  used  for  the  purpose  of  guiding  the 
threads  of  the  warp,  and  of  spreading  them  regularly  upon 
the  yarn-roll,  is  called  a  separator,  or  ravel,  and  is,  in  form, 
very  similar  to  the  reed  already  described,  being  made  of  a 
number  of  shreds  of  cane,  or  of  wire  fastened  together  in  a 
rail  of  wood,  in  the  shape  of  a  comb.  These  ravels  are 
made  of  different  dimensions  to  suit  different  descriptions  of 
work.  Between  these  teeth,  or  reeds,  the  threads  of  the 
warp  are  placed,  and  are  there  confined  by  a  top-piece  similar 
to  the  lay-cap  of  the  reed,  and  which  in  this  case  is  called 
the  cape.  The  threads  of  the  warp  being  separated  and 
guided  by  means  of  the  ravel,  one  or  two  persons  keep  the 
threads  at  their  proper  degree  of  tension,  while  another 
winds  them  on  the  yarn-roll,  by  turning  it  on  its  centre. 

The  next  process  is  drawing,  or  entering,  which  is  pass- 
ing each  thread  of  the  warp  regularly  through  its  appropri- 
ate loop  in  the  heddle.  To  effect  this,  the  weaver  places 
himself  in  front  of  the  heddles ;  and  opening  the  following 
loop  of  each  heddle  in  succession,  takes  the  threads  from  a 
person  standing  behind  the  heddles,  whose  business  it  is  to 
select  and  deliver  them  in  their  proper  order,  when  they  are 
drawn  through  the  loops.  The  warp  thus  drawn  through  the 
heddles  is  passed  through  the  interstitial  spaces  of  the  reed 
by  the  assistance  of  a  small  hook,  called  a  sley,  several 


chap.  nr. 


PLAIN  WEAVING. 


185 


threads,  according  to  the  texture  of  the  goods,  being  passed 
through  each  interval  of  the  reed,  but  an  equal  number  of 
threads  being  inserted  between  each  opening,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  twelve  outer  or  marginal  dents  or  wires, 
through  which  an  increased  number  of  threads  are  passed,  in 
order,  to  form  the  selvage  of  the  goods.  The  reed  is  then 
placed  in  the  lay  or  batten ;  the  ends  of  the  warp  threads  are 
knotted  together  in  several  portious,  which  are  tied  to  a  shaft, 
and  this  being  connected  by  cords  to  the  cloth-beam,  and  the 
threads  being  stretched,  the  warp  is  ready  for  weaving.  The 
weaver,  whenever  able  to  do  so,  simplifies  this  operation  of 
drawing  or  entering,  by  connecting  the  threads  of  his  new 
warp,  or  cane,  with  the  threads  of  the  warp  just  on  the  point 
of  being  finished.  This,  of  course,  saves  the  labor  of  pass- 
ing the  new  threads  through  the  mails  and  the  dents  of  the 
reed,  since  they  must  then  follow  regularly  those  to  which 
they  are  attached.  To  distinguish  it  from  the  original  en- 
tering of  the  warp  through  the  heddles,  the  weavers  give  the 
name  of  twisting  on  to  this  expedient,  which  saves  them 
seven  eighths  of  the  expense  they  must  otherwise  incur  in 
mounting  the  loom. 

The  shuttle  is  formed  from  a  piece  of  boxwood,  varying  in 
length  from  three  to  six  inches,  and  is  pointed  at  each  end : 

Fig.  ia 


it  has  in  its  upper  side  an  oblong  cavity,  for  the  purpose  of 
receiving  a  hollow  cane,  which,  however,  is  always  called  a 
quill,  probably  because  quills  may  have  been  usually  employ- 
ed in  former  days  for  this  purpose ;  upon  this  the  silk  to  be 
used  in  forming  the  shoot  is  wound ;  a  metal  wire  being  pass- 
ed through  the  hollow  of  the  quill  forms  its  axis,  about  which 
it  must  revolve  freely  when  inserted  in  the  shuttle. 

The  quantity  of  silk  wound  upon  each  of  these  quills  is 
necessarily  but  small,  and  their  frequent  renewal  is  indis- 
pensable. For  this  purpose  the  shuttle  has  in  its  cavity  two 
small  holes,  one  in  the  centre  of  each  end,  for  the  insertion 
of  the  points  of  this  axis.  One  of  these  holes  has  a  spring 
concealed  within  it,  which,  by  its  compression,  allows  of  the 
insertion  of  one  end  of  the  wire  to  a  depth  sufficient  for  ad- 
mitting the  other  end  to  enter  the  opposite  hole ;  and  when 
this  is  so  inserted,  the  spring  prevents  its  spontaneous  with- 


186 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


drawal,  while  it  offers  no  impediment  to  the  next  changing 
of  the  quill. 

The  only  art  required  in  winding  the  quills  is  to  provide 
that  the  silk  shall  be  delivered  freely  from  them :  the  best 
form  for  this  purpose  is  found  to  be  that  of  a  double  cone. 
The  winding  of  these  quills  is  usually  intrusted  to  young 
children.  There  is  a  hole  in  the  side  of  the  shuttle  commu- 
nicating with  the  cavity,  and  furnished  with  an  eye  of  glass, 
to  prevent  the  cutting  of  the  silk  in  its  passage ;  through  this 
hole,  the  end  of  the  silk  is  drawn  by  the  weaver,  who  so 
places  it  with  his  finger,  that,  applying  his  mouth  to  the  eye, 
and  drawing  in  his  breath,  the  silk  is  forced  through  by 
the  current  of  air  into  his  mouth. 

The  weaver  now  places  himself  in  the  seat  of  the  loom, 
and  leaning  lightly  against  the  cloth-roll  places  his  feet  upon 
the  treadles.  In  his  right  hand  he  takes  the  handle  of  the 
string  attached  to  the  two  drivers,  and  his  left  hand  holds  the 
lay-cap  or  cover  of  the  reed.  The  shuttle  being  placed  in 
the  trough  against  one  of  the  drivers,  and  between  it  and  the 
warp,  the  weaver  commences  his  operation  by  pressing  down 
with  his  foot  one  of  the  treadles  :  this  depresses  one  half  of 
the  threads  of  the  warp,  while  it  raises  the  others.  He  then 
gives  a  pull,  or  rather  a  jerk,  to  the  handle  of  the  driver,  in 
such  a  manner  that  the  shuttle  is  thrown  by  it  through  the 
shed  or  opening  between  the  threads  of  the  warp  into  the 
opposite  trough,  and  against  the  other  driver,  leaving  behind 
it  the  thread  which  is  to  form  the  shoot.  The  batten  being 
then  pulled  by  the  left  hand  towards  him,  the  shoot,  which 
was  lying  loose  between  the  warp,  is,  by  means  of  the  reed, 
driven  up  towards  the  cloth-roll.  The  other  treadle  being 
now  in  its  turn  depressed,  the  operation  is  reversed  ;  the  al- 
ternate threads  of  the  warp  change  places,  and  the  shuttle  is 
again  thrown,  by  another  jerk  of  the  driver,  into  the  same  po- 
sition in  the  opposite  trough  which  it  first  occupied.  The 
batten,  which  had  returned  by  its  own  weight  to  its  vertical 
position,  is  again  pulled  towards  the  cloth-roll,  and,  by  a  con- 
stant repetition  of  these  movements,  the  weaving  is  effected. 
When  the  labor  has  been  continued  long  enough  to  complete 
a  few  inches  of  woven  cloth,  this  is  wound  upon  the  cloth- 
roll,  the  rotations  of  which  are  effected  by  means  of  a  short 
lever  inserted  for  that  purpose  into  holes  made  at  the  right- 
hand  end  of  the  cloth-roll,  and  this  end  being  furnished  with 
a  serrated  or  ratchet  wheel,  a  pall  or  click  falling  into  its 
teeth,  prevents  the  roll  returning.  The  woven  silk  is  kept 
at  its  proper  degree  of  extension  by  small  hooks,  called  temp- 


CHAP.  III. 


PLAIN  WEAVING. 


187 


lets,  connected  with  strings  which  pass  through  pulleys  at 
either  side  of  the  loom,  and  are  connected  with  weights  at 
their  other  extremities. 

Plain  weaving  is  thus  seen  to  be  a  very  simple  operation. 
A  certain  degree  of  proficiency  in  the  art  may  doubtless  be 
quickly  and  easily  attained,  but  much  practice  and  attention 
are  nevertheless  required,  in  order  to  form  a  dexterous 
weaver,  so  as  to  enable  him  to  produce  well-woven  fabrics, 
and  to  accomplish  within  a  given  time  such  a  portion  of 
work  as  will  earn  for  him  a  competent  subsistence. 

Many  tyros  in  the  art  so  use  their  feet  as  to  depress  the 
treadles  far  too  suddenly  ;  the  bad  consequence  of  which  is, 
that  by  the  sudden  relaxation  and  tension  of  the  threads  of 
the  wTarp,  such  among  them  as  may  at  any  point  be  weak 
are  broken,  the  tendency  to  which  accident  is  increased  by 
the  greater  friction  against  the  dents  of  the  reed.  Considera- 
ble time  is  then  lost  in  renewing  the  broken  threads ;  fre- 
quently more  than  would  have  sufficed,  in  the  absence  of 
such  accidents,  for  the  actual  weaving  of  the  goods.  The 
evil  is  still  greater  if,  through  inattention,  the  shuttle  is  kept 
at  work  after  the  breaking  of  one  or  more  warp  threads. 
Broken  threads  cannot,  of  course,  retain  their  relative  po- 
sition with  the  rest,  but  cross  over  or  become  interlaced  with 
others,  to  the  manifest  injury  both  of  the  look  and  actual 
quality  of  the  fabric.  Frequently,  too,  these  broken  threads 
interfere  with  the  passage  of  the  shuttle,  and  occasion  farther 
mischief  by  the  breaking  of  other  portions  of  the  threads. 

If  the  motion  given  to  the  shuttle  be  more  than  sufficiently 
rapid,,  it  will  strike  too  forcibly  against  the  opposite  driver, 
and  by  its  recoil  will  slacken  the  thread  of  the  shoot,  upon 
the  due  tension  of  which  much  of  the  beauty  of  the  fabric 
depends. 

It  is  also  of  importance  that  the  batten  should  be  brought 
forward  against  the  shoot  with  an  equal  degree  of  force  at 
each  stroke,  otherwise  there  would  be  no  uniformity  in  the 
thickness  of  the  cloth.  A  knowledge  of  the  degrees  of  force 
proper  to  be  applied  to  fabrics  of  different  natures  and  de- 
grees of  fineness  can  only  be  acquired  by  attention  and  long 
practice.  An  experienced  weaver  always  endeavors  so  to 
mount  his  loom,  that  the  batten  shall  have  such  a  range  or 
swing  as  is  proportioned  to  the  texture  of  the  goods  under 
preparation.  The  motion  of  the  batten,  as  it  swings  to  and 
fro,  is  similar  to  that  of  a  pendulum  tracing  the  arc  of  a  cir- 
cle, and  the  greater  or  less  extent  of  this  arc  determines  the 
greater  or  less  degree  of  force  wherewith  the  shoot  is  driven 


188  SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  III. 

home ;  for  which  reason  it  is  of  importance  that  the  woven 
cloth  should  be  very  frequently  taken  up  or  wound  on  the  % 
cloth-roll,  lest  the  uniformity  of  its  texture  should  be  inter- 
rupted by  the  diminished  range  of  the  batten.  In  weaving 
coarse  or  thick  goods  the  batten  should  be  hung  so  as  to  give 
it  greater  play,  and  consequently  more  force,  than  where  fine 
and  light  fabrics  are  woven. 

Many  experienced  weavers  continue  to  use  the  ancient 
mode  of  passing  or  throwing  the  shuttle  through  the  shed  of 
the  warp  from  one  hand  to  the  other,  rather  than  adopt  the 
use  of  the  drivers.  In  this  case,  both  hands  of  the  weaver 
being  occupied  in  passing  the  shuttle,  the  batten  is  weighted, 
so  as  to  fall  with  the  proper  degree  of  force  against  the  shoot ; 
and  when  the  batten  has  performed  this  office,  it  is  made  to 
resume  its  proper  position  by  means  of  whichever  hand  may 
in  turn  be  at  liberty.  This  method  seems  preferable  to  the 
one  already  described,  where  the  weight  is  applied  so  as  to 
draw  the  batten  away  from  the  web,  to  which  latter  it  must 
then  be  brought  by  the  hands  of  the  weaver ;  a  mode  which 
seems  liable  to  more  than  one  objection.  The  force  applied 
to  the  batten  cannot  be  so  constant  a  quantity  under  the  man- 
ual operation  of  the  weaver,  as  when  effected  by  an  unvary- 
ing weight,  especially  where  the  use  of  the  fly-shuttle  is  not 
resorted  to,  and  the  change  in  the  action  of  his  hands  from 
the  throwing  of  a  shuttle  to  the  pulling  of  a  batten  must  in- 
crease the  toil  of  the  weaver  more  than  is  caused  by  merely 
pushing  the  batten  so  as  to  allow  the  passing  of  the  shuttle. 
If,  too,  the  force  is  applied  preferably  to  one  side  of  the  bat- 
ten, the  shoot  will  be  more  closely  driven  there  than  on  the 
opposite  side,  and  the  work,  in  consequence,  will  not  prove 
equally  perfect.  In  weaving  goods  of  great  breadth,  the 
fly-shuttle  may  be  considered  as  an  indispensable  instrument, 
and  indeed  it  would  seem  that  nothing  but  the  preference  ac- 
quired through  habit,  can  occasion  the  employment  of  the 
ancient  shuttle  rather  than  of  this.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that,  for  an  operation  to  be  effectually  performed  by  one 
hand,  where  two  would  otherwise  be  indispensable,  must 
give  the  workman  a  greater  command  over  other  parts  of  his 
operations. 

When  fine  goods  are  woven,  the  loops  of  the  harness  would 
be  very  inconveniently  crowded  together,  if  two  heddles 
only  were  employed.  It  is  customary,  therefore,  in  such 
cases,  to  use  four,  six,  or  even  more  heddles ;  but  this  causes 
no  alteration  in  the  action  of  the  loom,  the  heddles  being 
made  to  work  in  pairs  or  sets,  called  leaves  of  heddles, 


CHAP.  III. 


PLAIN  WEAVING. 


189 


where  all  composing  the  same  leaf  are  raised  and  depressed 
by  the  same  treadle. 

It  is  of  consequence  that  looms  should  be  erected  of  a  true 
rectangular  form,  or  the  work  will  otherwise  be  all  awry 
and  unsightly.  It  is  likewise  important  that  the  loom  should 
be  substantially  made  and  firmly  fixed,  to  prevent  any  tremu- 
lous motion  in  its  working,  which  would  cause  the  same  evil, 
by  producing  an  unequal  tension  of  the  warp. 

The  weaving  of  plain  ribands  is  usually  performed  in  a 
loom  which  enables  the  weaver  to  operate  upon  several 
lengths  or  warps  at  the  same  time  ;  the  number  of  these 
varies,  being  seldom  under  eight  or  beyond  twenty-eight. 
The  apparatus  whereby  this  is  effected  is  called  the  Dutch 
Engine  Loom,  a  name  which  sufficiently  indicates  its  origin. 
It  is  worked  by  the  hands,  and  with  treadles  for  the  feet,  in 
the  same  way  as  a  common  loom ;  each  warp  occupies  a  sep- 
arate shuttle,  which,  unless  the  weaver  were  furnished  with 
as  many  arms  as  Briareus,  cannot,  it  is  evident,  be  passed 
' ,  from  hand  to  hand.  The  apparatus  for  impelling  the  shuttles 
to  and  fro  is,  owing  to  a  resemblance  in  its  form  to  that  im- 
plement, called  a  ladder.  This  ladder  slides  horizontally  in 
a  groove  made  in  the  batten ;  and  the  whole  being  put  in 
motion  by  the  reciprocating  action  of  a  handle  situated  near 
the  middle  of  the  lay-cap,  each  cross-bar  of  the  ladder  is 
made  to  strike  in  the  manner  of  a  driver,  alternately  right 
and  left,  upon  one  of  the  two  shuttles  between  which  it  is 
placed.  These  engine  looms  do  not  require  any  yarn-roll  or 
cloth-roll.  The  warps  hang  over  pulleys,  in  loops  which  are 
weighted,  and  the  ribands  being  similarly  disposed,  are  car- 
ried away  as  they  are  woven.  This  movement  is  precisely 
regulated  by  causing  the  batten  to  strike  against  blocks 
placed  on  the  upright  posts  of  the  framing  in  front  of  the 
loom,  so  that  the  progress  of  the  batten  being  prevented  be- 
yond the  requisite  point,  the  shoot  is  driven  home  in  the  web 
with  the  exact  degree  of  force  which  is  proper.  The  same 
impulsion,  assisted  by  the  weights,  drives  the  woven  fabrics 
in  minute  portions,  as  they  are  completed,  over  the  pulleys, 
and  draws  the  warps  forward  in  the  same  degree,  so  that  the 
only  interruption  from  his  work  experienced  by  the  weaver 
is  when  the  weights  have  run  through  the  range  assigned  to 
them.  The  finished  ribands  are  then  wound  up,  and  fresh 
lengths  of  warp  unwound ;  the  weights  are  again  applied  as 
at  first,  and  the  weaving  recommenced.  Some  of  these  en- 
gine looms  are  so  constructed  as,  by  the  addition  of  a  simple 
mechanism,  to  render  even  this  interruption  unnecessary ; 


190 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


the  woven  ribands  being  wound,  and  the  warps  unwound,  in 
proportion  as  the  weaving  goes  forward. 

With  one  of  these  looms  a  diligent  workman  may  weave 
one  yard  in  an  hour  of  as  many  narrow  ribands  as  the  loom 
is  qualified  to  produce  at  the  same  time. 

The  bobbins  upon  which  the  warps  are  wound,  perform 
the  same  office  as  the  yarn-roll  in  a  common  single  loom. 
From  these  bobbins,  the  warps  pass  over  pulleys,  each  of 
which  has  close  to  it,  and  at  its  side,  a  smaller  roller  or 
pulley.  Over  these  the  warps  are  again  turned  after  be- 
ing extended  by  weights,  one  of  which  is  suspended  to 
each  warp.  From  these  smaller  pulleys  each  warp  descends 
to  a  horizontal  roller  which  is  on, a  level  with  the  shut- 
tle-race. This  roller  has  attached  to  it  a  series  of  reeds  or 
sleys,  similar  in  construction  to  those  contained  in  the  bat- 
ten; and  these  additional  reeds,  one  of  which  is  used  for 
each  warp,  are  needed  in  this  case,  because  the  proper  and 
regular  spreading  of  the  warps  has  not  been  previously  or 
otherwise  accomplished. 

The  arrangement  of  the  heddles,  the  passage  of  the  warps 
through  them,  and  the  action  of  the  batten  with  its  attendant 
lay-cap  and  reeds,  are  similar  to  the  like  parts  and  motions  in 
common  looms,  with  this  exception,  that  the  warp  from 
which  each  individual  riband  is  formed  passes  through  the 
dents  of  a  distinct  reed. 

The  course  by  which  the  woven  ribands  are  carried  away 
is  through  rollers  in  the  rail,  which  stands  in  the  situation 
usually  occupied  by  the  breast-roll  in  front  of  the  weaver. 
Thence  the  ribands  pass  diagonally  to  other  rollers  in  the 
bottom  rail  of  the  back  framing  of  the  loom,  and  rising  per- 
pendicularly, they  are  carried  again  through  pulleys  near  the 
top  to  other  adjacent  pulleys  furnished  with  weights,  and 
thence  over  the  top  rails  of  the  framing  to  bobbins  placed  in 
the  front  of  the  loom,  over  the  head  of  the  weaver,  who,  from 
time  to  time,  as  already  mentioned,  winds  up  thereon  the 
finished  riband. 

The  engine  loom  is  chiefly  used  in  Coventry,  which  has 
long  been  the  principal  seat  of  the  riband  manufacture  of 
England ;  giving  employment  to  beyond  10,000  looms,  of 
which  about  one  third  only  are  what  are  called  single  looms, 
that  is,  constructed  for  the  weaving  of  one  breadth  only. 
These  last  are  mostly  employed  in  the  manufacturing  of 
figured  ribands,  while  the  engine  looms  are  generally  occu- 
pied with  plain  goods. 

The  Coventry  weavers  have  made  so  very  marked  an  ir» 


CHAP.  III. 


PLAIN  WEAVING.  1M 

provement  in  their  art  since  the  legalized  importation  of  for- 
eign manufactured  silks,  that  one  of  the  most  eminent  manu>- 
facturers  of  that  city  has  declared,  that  he  should,  at  this  day, 
blush  for  the  work  which  even  his  best  hands  used  formerly 
to  furnish ;  that  now  their  patterns  and  productions  are  fully 
equal  to  those  of  their  foreign  rivals,  and  qualified  to  come  in 
successful  competition  with  the  most  beautiful  ribands  wrought 
by  the  Lyonnese  weavers. 

Ribands  are  frequently  ornamented  by  having  what  is  call- 
ed a  pearl-edge  given  to  them.  This  is  formed  by  causing 
portions  of  the  shoot  to  project  beyond  the  edges  of  the  rib- 
and, and  the  extent  of  these  projections  is  so  governed  as 
that  they  shall  assume  a  symmetrical  appearance,  according 
to  the  particular  form  required,  whether  as  Vandykes,  or  scal- 
lops, or  any  other  figures.  This  pleasing  effect  is  produced 
by  employing  supplementally  to  the  v/arp-threads,  and  out- 
side each  edge,  a  certain  number  of  horse-hairs,  which  pass 
through  mails  in  the  harness  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
warp-threads,  but  which  hairs  will  be  drawn  out  of  the  rib- 
and by  the  act  of  its  being  wound  on  the  roller.  The  horse- 
hairs are  so  connected  with  the  machinery  of  the  loom  as  to 
be  raised  in  the  succession  proper  for  forming  the  pattern  re- 
quired. 

The  following  diagram  exhibits  the  mode  of  forming  the 
simplest  sort  of  pearl-edge. 

The  lines  a  a  represent  the  edges  of  the  riband ;  b  b  the 
shoot,  and  the  figures  2,  4,  6,  8,  signify  the  number  of  hairs 

Fig.  14. 


which  have  been  included  in  the  several  threads  of  the  shoot 
to  which  the  numbers  are  attached,  in  order  to  form  the 
pearl-edge.  It  will  be  seen  that,  by  varying  the  order  of 
succession  used  for  raising  the  horse-hairs,  the  form  of  the 
edge  will  be  determined  in  the  particular  manner  that  is  de- 
sired. 

The  commoner  sorts  of  ribands  are  composed  altogether, 


192 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


both  warp  and  shoot,  of  Bengal  silk.  Those  of  better  quality 
are  manufactured  with  a  mixture  of  Italian  and  Bengal  silk ; 
and  the  finest  descriptions  are  made  of  Italian  silk  without 
any  mixture.  Riband  is  woven  in  pieces,  each  of  which 
measures  thirty-six  yards. 


CHAP.  IV. 

FIGURE  WEAVING. 

Sumptuary  Laws.— Antiquity  of  ornamental  Weaving.— Stripes.— Checks. 
—Changes  of  Colors. — Twills. — Draw-loom. — Draw-boy. — Jacquard  Ma- 
chine.— Principle  and  Mode  of  its  Action. — Card-slips. — Advantages  of 
the  Machine.— Jennings's  Improvement.— Obstacles  to  its  original  Intro- 
duction in  Lyons. — Superiority  of  French  Patterns. 

The  processes  hitherto  described  are  competent  only  to 
the  manufacture  of  plain  goods;  and  although,  speaking 
strictly,  all  that  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  wants  of  civ- 
ilized man,  in  respect  of  the  art  of  weaving,  is  accomplished 
when  fabrics  of  this  description  are  produced,  yet  fashion 
and  the  love  of  variety  have  always,  except  in  the  very 
rudest  conditions  of  society,  occasioned  the  more  ornamental 
and  fanciful  productions  to  be  viewed  with  admiration  and 
adopted  with  eagerness. 

The  cynic  may  sneer  at  the  vanity  which  seeks  to  adorn 
the  human  frame  in  varieties  of  colors,  combined  into  forms 
and  patterns  of  still  greater  variety.  But  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  show  that  the  powers  of  invention,  and  the  ingenuity 
which  this  vanity  has  called  into  existence,  have  not  been 
beneficially  exerted  in  providing  employment  for  thousands 
of  industrious  artisans,  in  rescuing  tens  of  thousands  from 
the  miseries  of  hopeless  indigence,  and  by  exercising,  in  va- 
rious ways,  the  mental  faculties  of  our  species. 

The  growing  intelligence  of  mankind  has  long  since  led 
them  to  discard  all  sumptuary  laws,  as  useless,  if  not  hurtful, 
to  communities,  whether  they  are  considered  morally  or  po- 
litically. The  desire  of  obtaining  that  which  may  entitle  us, 
in  the  opinion  of  our  associates,  to  an  increased  degree  of 
worldly  consideration,  is  a  most  powerful  incentive  to  the  vir- 
tues of  industry  and  frugality ;  qualities  which  tend  most  im- 
portantly to  the  general  advancement  of  society,  but  which 
are  altogether  wanting  during  its  ruder  stages. 

It  has  been  well  said  by  a  celebrated  philosopher,  whose 
profound  investigations  have  been  greatly  instrumental  in 
correcting  many  mistaken  notions  upon  the  science  of  gov- 


CHAP.  IV. 


FIGURE  WEAVING. 


193 


ernment,  which  had  long  been  established  and  held  as  incon- 
trovertible axioms,  that  "  the  natural  effort  of  every  individ- 
ual to  better  his  own  condition,  when  suffered  to  exert  itself 
with  freedom  and  sincerity,  is  so  powerful  a  principle,  that  it 
is  alone,  and  without  any  assistance,  not  only  capable  of  car- 
rying- on  the  society  to  wealth  and  prosperity,  but  of  sur- 
mounting' a  hundred  impertinent  obstructions  with  which  the 
folly  of  human  laws  too  often  encumbers  its  operations ; 
though  the  effect  of  these  obstructions  is  always,  more  or  less, 
either  to  encroach  upon  its  freedom,  or  to  diminish  its  se- 
curity.''* 

It  would  prove  a  curious  subject  of  inquiry,  to  follow  out, 
to  their  ultimate  consequences,  and  through  all  their  ramifi- 
cations, the  effects  resulting  to  society  from  the  introduction 
of  new  luxuries.  To  ascertain  the  degree  wherein  the  indul- 
gence, by  the  wealthy,  of  wants  called  into  existence  by  the 
very  means  afforded  for  their  gratification,  brings  other  enjoy- 
ments within  the  reach  of  a  larger  number,  by  reason  of  the 
new  demand  for  industrious  labor  thus  created  ;  and  to  learn 
how  a  still  larger  class  are,  through  the  spirit  of  emulation, 
rendered  so  desirous  of  acquiring  an  equal  participation  in 
comforts  enjoyed  by  their  former  equals,  as  to  give  an  effec- 
tual spur  to  their  industry  and  ingenuity.  Luxuries,  when 
they  have  been  long  enjoyed,  become,  in  a  manner,  necessary 
to  our  happiness;  to  be  without  them,  while  others  are  not 
so  deprived,  is  to  feel  ourselves  lowered  in  the  scale  of  so- 
,  ciety,  a  degradation  to  which  but  few  individuals  would  will- 
ingly submit,  while  the  means  of  avoiding  it  continue  within 
their  reach. 

To  imagine  that  communities,  after  once  acquiring  a  relish 
for  luxuries,  can  ever  fall  back  to  the  primitive  usages  of  so- 
ciety, is  to  conceive  what  never  has  occurred,  and  that,  while 
the  human  mind  remains  constituted  as  it  ever  has  been, 
never  will  be  experienced.  The  natural  wishes  of  every 
man  are  placed  upon  the  acquirement  of  something  more 
and  better  than  that  which  he  at  present  enjoys ;  and  society 
is  thus  led,  by  the  concurring  efforts  of  each  of  its  individual 
members,  progressively  and  steadily  onward.  Legislative  or 
governmental  interference  may,  indeed,  retard  the  march  of 
improvement,  but  can  no  more  stop  its  course  when  it  is  once 
in  action  than  it  can  stay  the  motion  of  the  planets. 

Figure-weaving  is  the  art  of  producing  various  patterns  in 


*  Inquiry  into  the  Nature  and  Causes  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  by 
Adam  Smith,  vol.  ii.  p.  365. 

R 


194 


8ILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


the  cloth,  either  by  the  introduction  of  threads  of  various 
colors,  or  by  a  different  arrangement  of  the  threads,  or  by 
using,  in  the  same  fabric,  threads  of  different  substances. 

This  interesting  art  is  of  very  ancient  invention,  and  ap- 
pears to  have  been  practised  by  the  Egyptians  at  a  very  early 
period.  Herodotus*  speaks  of  a  curious  breast-plate  or  cuirass, 
covered  with  linen,  which  was  sent  by  king  Amasis  to  the 
Lacedemonians,  and  which  was  highly  ornamented  with  nu- 
merous figures  of  animals  woven  into  its  texture.  The  his- 
torian adds,  that  each  of  its  apparently  slender  threads  was 
actually  composed  of  three  hundred  filaments,  which,  under 
a  careful  examination,  were  all  distinctly  visible. 

The  improvements  recently  introduced  into  this  ornamental 
branch  of  the  art  have  been  many  and  important ;  but  pre- 
vious to  giving  any  description  of  these  improvements,  it  may 
be  as  well  to  explain,  generally,  the  more  simple,  although 
more  laborious  and  less  perfect,  means,  whereby  the  weaver 
was  formerly  enabled  to  produce  the  requisite  varieties  of 
form  and  color  from  his  loom. 

Stripes  which  occur  throughout  the  length  of  the  piece 
are  the  effect  of  using  threads  of  different  colors  or  substances 
in  the  warp  alone,  and  do  not  entail  any  additional  labor 
upon  the  weaver.  Stripes  which  run  across  the  piece,  or  in 
the  direction  of  the  shoot,  are  caused  by  using  different  shut- 
tles, furnished  with  threads  of  the  requisite  colors  and  sub- 
stances for  the  formation  of  the  shoot.  The  only  additional 
labor  thus  occasioned  to  the  weaver  is  that  of  changing  his 
shuttle  at  certain  intervals.  A  combination  of  these  two 
methods  will,  it  must  be  evident,  produce  a  checkered  pat- 
tern, and  thus  a  very  great  variety  of  rectilinear  patterns  may 
be  obtained. 

To  call  forth  figures,  flowers,  or  patterns  of  any  other  kind, 
different  means  are  necessary.  By  dividing  the  warp  be- 
tween several  leaves  of  heddles,  which  can  be  depressed  at 
pleasure  by  separate  treadles,  threads  of  different  colors  may 
be  either  concealed  or  brought  forward  upon  the  face  of  the 
goods,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  weaver.  These  threads  may  be 
made  to  change  places  one  with  the  other,  so  as  to  reyeal  or 
conceal  each  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  out  the  particular 
pattern  intended. 

Where  threads  of  different  colors  or  substances  are  em- 
ployed in  forming  the  shoot,  the  shuttles  containing  such  dif- 
ferent threads  must  be  substituted  as  often  as  is  required  by 


*  Lib.  iii.  c.  47. 


CHAP.  IV. 


FIGURE  WEAVING. 


195 


the  contemplated  change  of  pattern.  To  effect  this  substitu- 
tion with  but  little  trouble  or  loss  of  time  to  the  weaver,  a 
very  simple  but  effectual  contrivance  is  used. 

One  of  the  troughs  connected  with  the  shuttle-race  must 
be  made  in  two  parts,  thus : — 

Fig.  15. 


The  box,  here  shown,  forming  part  of  the  trough  in  which 
the  shuttle  is  placed  between  the  warp  and  the  pecker  or 
driver,  can  be  easily  exchanged  for  another  box,  furnished 
with  a  different  shuttle,  having  wound  in  it  a  thread  of  the 
kind  wanted.  In  order  to  facilitate  this  exchange  of  the 
shuttles,  the  movable  part  of  the  trough  is  suspended  from  a 
centre  of  motion,  as  at  b ;  by  swinging,  therefore,  the  box  a 
on  its  centre,  any  one  of  its  divisions  may  be  brought  oppo- 
site to  the  driver,  so  as  exactly  to  coincide  with  it,  and  to 
form  part  of  the  same  trough  in  continuation  of  the  shuttle- 
race.  The  upright  bar  of  the  shuttle-box  a  works,  as  is  seen, 
upon  a  curved  arm  c,  which  is  furnished  with  pegs  or  catches 
to  confine  the  bar  in  the  precise  position  which  it  should  oc- 
cupy. If  more  than  three  different  colored  threads  are 
wanted  to  form  the  shoot,  there  may  then  be  two  movable 
boxes  for  the  shuttles;  one  being  placed  at  each  end  of  the 
shuttle-race. 

Tweeled  or  twilled  cloth  is  a  description  of  figure  weaving 
depending  upon  peculiar  arrangements  of  the  threads  that 
compose  the  warp  and  shoot.  These  arrangements  may  be 
almost  infinitely  varied  and  complicated,  so  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  convey  a  clear  or  adequate  description  of  every 
variety ;  nor,  indeed,  would  it  be  useful  in  a  work  like  this  to 
do  so.  It  is,  however,  easy  to  communicate  an  idea  of  the 
principle  that  enters  into  and  governs  this  method  of  weav* 


196 


SILK  MANUFACTURE* 


PART  III* 


ing,  which  will  be  at  once  understood  by  consulting  the  two 
following  diagrams. 


A  represents  in  section,  but  greatly  magnified  for  the  pur- 
pose of  clearness,  a  piece  of  cloth  woven  in  the  simplest 
manner.  The  circles  are  intended  to  represent  the  section 
of  the  warp,  and  the  waved  line  which  passes  alternately 
above  and  below  each  following  thread  of  the  warp  is  the 
weft  or  shoot :  this  on  its  return  is,  by  the  altered  position  of 
the  threads  of  the  warp,  made  to  pass  beneath  those  threads 
which  it  had  before  passed  over,  and  over  those  under  which 
it  had  been  previously  directed. 


B  represents,  also  in  section,  a  piece  of  twilled  cloth, 
where  the  waved  line  or  shoot  is  seen  to  pass  over  four 
threads,  and  under  one  thread  of  the  warp ;  while  it  is  mani- 
fest that  by  the  alternation  of  the  heddles  the  shoot,  with  the 
return  stroke  of  the  shuttle,  will  pass  under  four  threads  and 
over  one  thread  of  the  warp.  It  must  not  be  understood, 
that  in  weaving  twilled  fabrics  the  shoot  invariably  passes 
under  or  over  four  threads  before  interlacing  with  the  warp, 
or  that  it  then  interlaces  with  only  one  thread ;  the  number 
of  threads  so  passed  over  may  be  two,  three,  four,  five,  or 
more,  in  fact,  any  number  greater  than  one,  although  seldom 
fewer  than  three  ;  and  the  interlacing  may  be  with  two  or 
more  threads,  according  to  the  pattern  which  it  is  desired  to 
produce,  and  which  of  course  will  vary  according  as  the 
number  of  threads  passed  over  or  interlaced  is  greater  or 
less.  All  the  intersecting  points  where  the  threads  of  the 
warp  and  shoot  cross  or  interweave  are  more  marked  to  the 
eye  from  the  circumstance  of  both  threads  being  seen  to- 
gether. These  points  take  the  form  of  diagonal  lines,  ex- 
tending parallel  to  each  other,  across  the  face  of  the  cloth, 
and  the  degree  of  obliquity  will  vary  according  to  the  num- 
ber of  warp  threads  passed  over  without  interlacing  with  the 
shoot.  In  twills  of  the  coarsest  fabric  the  shoot  is  interwoven 
with  every  third  thread  of  the  warp ;  and  in  proportion  as 
the  materials  wrought  are  finer,  longer  intervals  are  allowed, 


Fig.  16. 


A 


Fig.  17. 


*~OCO  O  OOOO^CO"0"cK-OOOCK^OOO(> — UOOO 


CHAP.  IV. 


FIGritE  WEAVING. 


197 


until,  in  some  of  the  finest  silks,  the  interlacing  takes  place 
only  with  each  sixteenth  thread. 

All  the  varieties  of  twilling  depend  upon  the  mounting  or 
working  of  the  different  leaves  of  heddles,  or  the  harness  of 
the  loom :  these,  by  their  multiplication  and  by  their  connex- 
ion with  a  greater  number  of  treadles,  w7hich  can  be  made  to 
work  in  different  orders  of  succession,  vary  the  arrangements 
for  separating  the  threads  of  the  warp  in  forming  the  shed, 
thus,  according  to  the  weaver's  phrase,  augmenting  the  num- 
ber of  leases  in  the  harness. 

In  forming  patterns  where  the  variety  is  extensive,  the 
number  of  treadles  that  would  be  nesessary  to  accomplish 
this  mode  of  weaving  would  be  so  great,  that  one  man  could 
not  possibly  manage  them  with  his  twTo  feet.  By  placing 
one  of  these  inadvertently  upon  a  wrong  treadle,  the  uni- 
formity of  the  work  would  be  interrupted,  and  the  pattern 
disfigured  ;  and  it  could  not  be  expected  that,  while  urging 
forward  his  wTork  with  the  celerity  necessary  for  the  ade- 
quate support  of  his  family,  any  man  could  so  bestow  his  at- 
tention upon  every  part  of  his  operations  as  to  insure  the  ab- 
sence of  all  errors  of  this  description. 

The  regularity  and  precision  which  are  necessary  in  pro- 
ducing fanciful  patterns  of  great  variety  require,  therefore,  a 
different  description  of  loom.  To  meet  this  necessity,  the 
apparatus  called  a  draw-loom  was  invented  :  by  means  of  this 
the  most  comprehensive  patterns  were  produced ;  and  in 
using  it  the  weaver  was  absolved  from  all  extra  attention, 
having  only  to  apply  his  feet,  as  in  the  commonest  kind  of 
weaving,  to  two  treadles  alternately.  The  working  of  a 
draw-loom  formerly  required  the  constant  attention  of  two 
persons,  one  of  whom  was  employed  to  raise  the  heddles  in 
their  requisite  order  of  succession,  by  pulling  strings  attached 
to  the  various  leaves  respectively,  while  the  other  carried 
forward  the  operation  of  actual  weaving ;  but  during  the 
year  1807  a  most  valuable  invention  was  brought  into  use 
and  substituted  for  the  second  person  employed.  The  saving 
of  labor  resulting  from  the  use  of  this  apparatus  comprised, 
perhaps,  the  least  part  of  its  advantages,  since  it  removed,  by 
the  unerring  certainty  of  its  operation,  all  possible  chance  of 
mistake  in  pulling  a  wrong  string,  which,  while  the  office 
was  performed  by  human  hands,  could  not  but  sometimes  oc- 
cur. The  apparatus,  when  once  properly  set  up,  itself  pro- 
vided for  all  the  operations  and  changes  required. 

This  machine,  which,  from  its  standing  in  the  stead  of  a 
R2 


198 


SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  III* 


person  who  was  distinguished  by  that  name,  is  called  a  draw- 
boy,  will  be  now  described. 

This  machine  was  fixed  to  the  side  of  the  loom  in  the 
place  where  the  assistant  weaver  formerly  used  to  stand. 

It  consists  of  a  square  axis  made  of  wood,  and  so  mounted 
as  to  turn  backwards  and  forwards  in  the  frame  on  centres 
of  motion.  A  pulley  is  fixed  at  one  end  of  the  frame,  having 
a  line  fastened  to  it  at  its  highest  point.  The  axis  is  put  in 
motion  by  means  of  this  line,  each  end  of  which  is  connected 
with  one  of  the  treadles  of  the  loom.  Two  wooden  rails  or 
shelves  are  fixed  across  the  frame  parallel  to  the  axis,  to 
which  two  brass  plates  are  screwed,  and  pierced  with  a  great 
number  of  holes  to  receive  as  many  cords.  A  central  rail  is 
placed  beneath  the  reciprocating  axis,  and  to  this  rail  are 
fastened  cords,  which,  passing  through  the  perforations  of  the 
plates  are  turned  over  rounded  rods,  and  kept  extended  by 
weights :  the  rods  are  suspended  by  cords  at  each  end  from 
the  ceiling  of  the  room.  To  each  of  the  cords  which  pass 
from  the  central  rail,  through  the  brass  plates,  and  just  be- 
fore they  are  turned  over  the  rods,  anotiier  cord  is  attached. 
The  latter  cords  hang  loosely,  their  upper  ends  being  con- 
nected with  lines  extending  horizontally  across  the  ceiling 
of  the  room,  to  which  they  are  fastened  by  one  end,  w7hile 
the  other  end  of  each  passes  over  a  pulley  placed  at  the  top 
of  the  loom ;  and  the  leaves  of  heddles  or  harness  are  all 
suspended  by  lines  thus  conducted. 

It  will  now  be  seen,  that  when  any  one  of  the  cords  fasten- 
ed to  the  central  rail  is  pulled  down,  it  must  draw  one  of  the 
latter  cords,  and  act  upon  that  part  of  the  harness  which  is 
connected  with  it :  one  of  the  weights  keeps  the  cord  at  its 
proper  degree  of  tension.  It  may  be  easily  understood,  that 
the  harness  being  arranged  in  such  succession  as  is  required 
to  raise  and  depress  the  leaves  of  heddles  in  a  manner  which 
will  produce  those  various  situations  of  the  warp  which  are 
necessary  to  the  production  of  the  required  pattern,  it  only 
remains  to  provide  for  the  regular  and  successive  drawing  of 
the  cords  as  they  are  mounted  in  the  draw-boy.  This  is  the 
business  of  the  machine,  and  is  accomplished  in  the  following 
manner: — 

The  axis  has  fixed  to  it  a  semicircle,  grooved  in  its  peri- 
phery like  a  pulley,  and  with  both  its  ends  divided  so  as  to 
form  a  cleft  hook  or  claw.  Each  of  the  strings  made  fast  to 
the  central  rail  has  a  large  knot  made  in  it,  a  little  below 
the  point  where  it  passes  through  the  brass  plate ;  and  when 
the  axis  is  made  to  vibrate  to  and  fro  by  the  action  of  the 


CHAP.  IV. 


FIGURE  WEAVING. 


199 


treadles,  as  before  mentioned,  one  of  the  hooks  of  the  semi- 
circle seizes  upon  one  of  these  knots,  and  drawing  down  the 
cord,  raises  the  heddles  connected  with  it. 

It  must  be  remembered,  that  by  the  connexions  made  be- 
tween the  various  leaves  of  heddles,  the  raising*  of  any  one  of 
the  leaves  must  occasion  the  depression  of  all  the  others. 

The  shuttle  being  then  thrown,  the  other  treadle  is  in  its 
turn  depressed :  the  axis,  with  the  semicircle,  in  its  return 
back,  allows  the  cord  to  disengage  itself  from  the  cleft  hook, 
and  to  take  its  original  position ;  the  semicircle  then  inclining 
over  to  the  other  side,  its  other  cleft  hook  lays  hold  of  the 
knot  made  in  the  cord  next  in  advance  of  the  one  opposite  to 
that  just  released  ;  draws  it  down  ;  the  shuttle  is  again 
thrown;  and  so  on  in  regular  succession,  each  claw  in  its 
turn  seizing  upon  the  cord  next  beyond  the  one  directly  op- 
posite to  that  just  drawn.  The  means  whereby  it  is  provided 
•that  the  claws  shall  take  in  succession  only  the  alternate 
cords  passing  through  the  brass  plates,  are  by  two  racks, 
which  are  let  into  grooves  in  the  axis,  and  have  teeth  like 
saws,  but  the  teeth  on  one  rack  are  inclined  in  a  contrary 
•direction  to  those  of  the  other.  These  racks  are  caused  to 
move  backward  and  forward  in  their  grooves  to  the  extent  of 
one  tooth  at  each  vibratory  movement  of  the  axis,  by  the  ac- 
tion of  two  circular  inclined  planes  of  iron  fastened  to  the 
frame,  against  which  the  ends  of  the  racks  are  thrown  by 
means  of  spiral  springs  concealed  beneath  each  rack.  The 
semicircle  is  fixed  on  a  box  or  carriage,  which  slides  upon  the 
axis,  and  has  two  clicks  upon  it;  one  of  which  falls  into  the 
iteeth  of  one  rack,  the  other  into  the  teeth  of  the  second  rack: 
sa  roller  is  fixed  over  the  box,  and  connected  with  the  two 
^clicks,  by  threads  wound  in  opposite  directions,  so  that  one 
;«lick  is  always  raised  up  and  disengaged  while  the  other  is 
In  action.  A  piece  of  wire  is  fixed  to  the  frame  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  intercept  another  small  wire  projecting  from 
the  roller  when  the  axis  is  inclined,  and  to  turn  the  roller  a 
short  distance :  another  wire,  intended  for  the  same  purpose, 
is  fixed  to  a  movable  cross  bar  which  can  be  fastened  as  re- 
quired at  either  a  greater  or  lesser  distance  from  the  end 
of  the  axis.  If  the  roller  be  in  such  a  position  that  one 
click  is  down  while  the  other  is  drawn  up,  the  direction 
given  to  the  semicircle  draws  down  one  string ;  during  this 
motion,  the  end  of  the  rack  comes  to  the  inclined  part  of  the 
circular  inclined  plane,  and  is  moved  on  by  its  spring  the 
space  of  one  tooth,  which  advance  is  maintained  by  the  click 
in  falling  into  the  tooth.    On  its  return  the  axis  thrusts  back 


200 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


the  rack,  together  with  the  sliding  box  and  semicircle,  caus- 
ing the  claw  to  catch  the  next  opposite  string ;  and  in  this 
manner  the  semicircle  proceeds,  advancing  one  string  with 
each  vibration,  until  it  reaches  the  end  of  its  course.  The 
tail  of  the  roller  then  strikes  against  a  pin.  fixed  in  the  mova- 
ble cross  bar,  the  roller  is  turned  over,  one  click  is  raised, 
and  the  other  click  is  brought  into  action  upon  the  rack.  By 
this  means  the  semicircle  is  moved  back  one  tooth  for  each 
vibration,  until  the  wire  projecting  from  the  roller  meets  a 
wire  projecting  from  the  frame,  by  means  of  which  it  is  upset ; 
the  click  again  comes  into  play,  and  the  semicircle  is  by  these 
means  kept  constantly  advancing  and  receding  with  the  most 
perfect  regularity. 

The  machine  which  has  just  been  described  was  not  in  all 
respects  the  same  as  the  first  mechanical  draw-boy  that  was 
employed,  upon  which  it  formed  a  considerable  improvement, 
by  rendering  it  unnecessary  for  the  weaver  to  quit  his  labor 
at  the  loom  and  reset  it,  whenever  the  semicircle  had  com- 
pleted its  progression  from  one  end  of  the  frame  to  the  other. 
This  improvement  was  the  contrivance  of  a  Mr.  Duff;  it  ex- 
hibits great  ingenuity,  and  the  apparatus  proved  eminently 
useful,  although  liable  to  one  very  serious  objection.  The 
weight  of  the  harness  and  the  friction  of  the  machine  being 
considerable,  it  was  necessary  to  adjust  accordingly  the  range 
of  the  treadles  which  gave  it  motion :  and  in  order  not  to 
oppress  the  weaver  with  the  weight,  it  was  requisite  that  he 
should  depress  each  treadle  to  the  extent  of  ten  inches.  The 
exertion  of  raising  his  feet  so  high,  and  in  such  quick  suc- 
cession as  was  needed,  proved  exceedingly  fatiguing,  and 
even  affected  injuriously  the  bodily  health  of  the  weaver. 
To  remedy  this  evil,  an  engine  maker,  named  Jones,  fixed  on 
the  axis  of  the  driving  wheel  or  pulley  two  cranks,  each 
being  about  two  thirds  of  the  length  of  the  radius  of  the 
wheel.  But  it  was  found,  as  indeed  might  have  been  ex- 
pected, that  this  arrangement  increased  the  load  and  friction 
so  disproportionally  to  the  advantage  that  was  gained  by 
shortening  the  tread,  as  to  render  it  hardly  available  in  prac- 
tice. It  was,  perhaps,  a  rather  better  contrivance  when  a 
weaver,  named  Hughes,  substituted  for  the  above  mentioned 
cranks  a  small  grooved  wheel,  which  he  fixed  on  the  axis  of 
the  driving  wheel,  and  connected  it  with  the  treadles  by 
means  of  cords  passing  over  pulleys ;  but  the  evil,  although 
diminished  by  this  means,  was  not  removed.  In  the  years 
1820  and  1821,  another  ingenious  silk  weaver,  named  Rich- 
ards, made  a  farther  and  effectual  improvement,  by  attaching1 


chap.  rv. 


FIGURE  WEAVING. 


201 


to  the  prolonged  axis  of  the  machine  an  arm,  carrying  a 
leaden  weight  of  such  magnitude  as  would  counterbalance 
the  weight  of  the  harness. 

The  apparatus,  thus  improved,  continued  for  a  long  time 
to  prove  of  great  usefulness  in  figure  weaving.  It  detracts 
nothing  from  the  merit  of  the  inventor  and  improvers  of  a 
machine  which  removed  so  many  of  the  disadvantages  at- 
tendant upon  the  system  of  figure  weaving,  as  then  usually 
practised,  that  another  and  a  better  system  has  since  been 
imported  from  a  neighboring  country,  which  has  occasioned 
the  laying  aside  of  the  draw-loom  and  its  attendant  draw-boy, 
for  the  production  of  figured  silk  goods. 

The  contrivance  whereby  this  new  system  has  been  accom- 
plished is  the  invention  of  M.  Jacquard,  who  was  a  practical 
weaver  of  Lyons.  Bearing  his  name,  it  will  probably  prove 
a  lasting  record  of  his  mechanical  talent,  and  will  secure  for 
his  memory  that  fair  harvest  of  fame,  which,  unhappily,  he 
has  not  lived  to  reap,  having  fallen  an  early  victim  to  the  in- 
tensity of  his  mental  application. 

In  the  course  of  the  very  few  years  which  have  elapsed 
since  its  first  introduction  into  this  country,  the  Jacquard 
loom  has  entirely  taken  the  place  of  every  other  method  of 
figured  silk  weaving,  and  has  been,  in  no  small  degree,  in- 
strumental in  bringing  that  curious  and  beautiful  art  to  its 
present  state  of  advancement.  The  elaborate  specimens  of 
brocade  which  used  to  be  brought  forward  as  evidence  of 
.skilfulness  on  the  part  of  the  Spitalfields  weavers  of  former 
days  were  produced  by  only  the  most  skilful  among  the  craft, 
who  bestowed  upon  their  performances  the  most  painful 
amount  of  labor.  The  most  beautiful  products  of  the  loom  in 
the  present  day  are,  however,  accomplished  by  men  possess- 
ing only  the  ordinary  rate  of  skill,  while  the  labor  attendant 
upon  the  actual  weaving  is  but  little  more  than  that  demand- 
ed for  making  the  plainest  goods.  The  carefulness  and  skill 
now  required  in  preparing  the  various  arrangements  of  the 
harness  in  the  loom,  or,  to  use  the  technical  phrase,  in  build- 
ing the  monture,  are  out  of  all  proportion  less  than  were 
called  for  before  the  introduction  of  Monsieur  Jacquard's  in- 
vention, the  principle  and  operation  of  which  will  appear  from 
the  following  drawings  and  description.* 

The  apparatus  is  fixed  on  the  top  of  the  loom,  in  a  perpen- 


*  The  drawings  inserted  for  the  elucidation  of  the  Jacquard  machine  are 
merely  outlines ;  a  mode  of  delineation  which  is  necessary,  in  order  to 
render  apparent  its  internal  construction  and  action,  which  are  concealed 
in  the  actual  machine  by  tha  framing  wherein  the  apparatus  is  contained. 


202 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


dicular  line  with  its  harness,  which  is  attached  to  the  lifting 
hooks  a  a.  These  hooks  are  passed  perpendicularly  through 
eyes  in  an  equal  number  of  horizontal  needles  b  c,  which  lie 
in  rows  in  the  frame  d  d.  Of  these  lifting  hooks  and  needles, 
only  eight  are  shown  in  the  drawings,  in  order  to  simplify  the 
description;  whereas,  in  the  actual  machine,  there  are  as 
many  as  400  of  each,  or  fifty  in  each  one  of  the  eight  rows, 
forming  as  many  leases  or  lashes  in  the  warp.  The  horizon- 
tal needles  b  c  protrude  through  the  frame  d  d  at  c,  and  are 
kept  in  that  position  by  helical  or  spiral  springs  e  e,  placed  in 

Fig.  18. 


V    t   V    I    V    .  V 


cavities  in  the  frame  d,  and  there  confined  by  vertical  wires 
f,  so  that  any  degree  of  pressure  being  applied  against  the 
points  of  those  needles  at  c  will  cause  them  to  retire  into  the 
frame  d  d,  and,  on  the  removal  of  this  pressure,  the  elasticity 
of  the  springs  will  again  drive  the  needles  forward.  The 
range  allowed  for  this  horizontal  movement  of  the  needles  is 
limited  by  vertical  pins  g,  passing  through  loops  made  in  the 
needles,  and  which  stop  them  at  a  certain  point.  Close  to 
these  vertical  pins,  others  are  placed  horizontally,  upon 
which  the  loops  of  the  needle  slide,  and  by  means  of  which 
they  are  retained  in  their  proper  position.  One  of  the  needles 
is  shown  separately,  for  clearer  elucidation. 

Above  the  frame  d  d  is  another  frame  h,  having  bars 


CHAP.  IV. 


FIGURE  WEAVING* 


203 


ranged  horizontally  at  right  angles  with  the  needles,  and 
in  number  equal  to  the  rows  of  lifting  hooks.  This  frame  h 
is  alternately  raised  from  or  lowered  upon  the  frame  d  d,  by 
a  lever  attached  to  and  acting  with  the  treadle,  and  the 
length  of  the  lifting  hooks  is  so  adjusted,  that  when  the  frame 

Fig.  19. 

/%.  .  (5L.  r< — Hep)  ■  % 

0  Oi 

h  is  lowered  the  lifting  bars  would  so  insinuate  themselves 
under  the  curved  ends  of  the  lifting  hooks  as  to  raise  them 
when  the  frame  h  is  again  raised.  For  this  purpose,  the  lift- 
ing bars,  which  in  shape  are  something  like  blunted  knife 
blades,  have  their  broad  parts  a  little  inclined  out  of  the  per- 
pendicular, so  that  their  lower  edges  shall  not  strike  in  their 
descent  against  the  curved  extremities  of  the  lifting  hooks-, 
while,  by  their  continued  depression,  the  flat  parts  of  the  bars 
will  come  in  contact  with  those  curves,  and  force  the  hooks 
somewhat  back  against  the  springs.  These,  at  the  moment 
they  are  freed  from  the  pressure  by  the  descent  of  the  bars 
below  the  curves,  force  the  hooks  back  into  the  vertical  posi- 
tion, which  insures  their  being  suspended  on  the  lifting  bars 
•  with  the  upward  movement  of  the  frame  h.  , 

It  will  be  observed  that  half  the  number  of  lifting  hoolis 
are  attached  to  the  lifting  bars,  while  the  other  half  remain 
disconnected  with  them  ;  this  has  been  effected  by  the  forcing 
back  of  the  needles,  through  the  eyes  of  which  those  lifting 
hooks  are  passed,  and  which,  by  that  act,  are  thrown  out  of 
their  perpendicular,  and  are  thus  carried  out  of  the  range  of 
the  lifting  hooks.  All,  therefore,  that  is  further  wanting  to 
govern  the  raising  and  depressing  of  the  different  portions  of 
the  warp  is  a  system  for  managing  the  retirement  of  the 
proper  needles  within  the  frame  d  d,  and,  consequently,  for 
influencing  the  taking  up  of  the  proper  heddles  by  means  of 
the  horizontal  lifting  bars. 

This  system  of  management  is  effected  by  the  agency  of  a 

Fig.  20. 


204 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  ni« 


square  revolving  bar,  and  a  succession  of  perforated  cards 
or  slips,  which  are  carried  round  with  its  revolutions. 

The  revolving  bar  is  perforated  on  each  of  its  four  sides, 
with  holes,  answering,  in  number  and  position,  to  the  points 
of  the  needles  at  c  ;  and  one  or  other  of  these  sides  is  brought 
into  contact  with  that  same  part  of  the  frame  d,  at  each  de- 
pression of  the  treadle. 

In  the  absence  of  the  cards  or  slips,  the  points  of  all  the 
horizontal  needles  b  c  would  enter  into  the  perforations  of  the 
revolving  bar,  and  every  one  of  the  lifting  hooks  would  be 
taken  up  on  the  lifting  bars ;  whence  the  office  of  the  cards 
becomes  apparent.  These  are  partially  perforated,  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  make  out  the  intended  pattern  by  means  of  the 
partial  influence  they  are  made  to  exert  in  causing  the  re- 
tirement of  the  horizontal  needles.  It  will  be  seen,  by  refer- 
ence to  the  cards  or  slips,  that  their  perforations  are  not  so 
numerous  as  those  on  the  sides  of  the  revolving  bar,  and  that 

Fig.  21. 


jooo  oo      o      cocccoeo  oo  , 
or,      n       iro      »roo     oo  o 
3c    o   ooo     CO     ccoo  coco 
>  o  oc    ccoo    e»    cc  cceoo 

CO  O  OO       OOO   oooo    coooo  A 

oo  o  ooooooo    oco     oo  ooJ 
ooo  °         r     oo   oooo  ooH" 
,ooo    oo     c  oco  o  ooooooo  J. 

OO    OO  O      OOOOOocO  ccoo 
q        or.  oooo  cooo&oo 
n  o  ooo   oooo  or  oo  ooo 
\  ono^c  oooc>co    ft  ooceo^o* 

^  oc    o    ooooo  oooo* 
o  o              ooo       oo   ooo -4 

1OOO0O    ooo      CO       o       OCO  1 

c  r  c  oc  o     o  ooo     oo  oo4 

these  holes  occur  at  irregular  positions.  If,  then,  one  of 
these  slips  of  card  be  made  to  cover  the  side  of  the  revolving 
bar  which  is  opposed  to  the  points  of  the  needles,  such  of  the 
latter  as  do  not  coincide  with  the  perforations  made  on  the 
slip  will  be  driven  back  against  their  helical  springs.  Their 
lifting  hooks  will,  consequently,  be  carried  beyond  the  range 
of  the  lifting  bars ;  while  all  those  needles  which  find  coin- 
ciding perforations  in  the  card  slip  will  pass  through  it  into 
the  perforations  of  the  revolving  bar ;  their  lifting  hooks  will, 
on  the  depression  of  the  frame  h,  be  engaged  by  the  lifting 
bars  ;  and  those  portions  of  the  harness  which  are  connected 
with  them  will  be  drawn  up. 

The  perforations  in  the  slips  are  so  placed  as  to  occasion 
that  succession  in  the  raising  of  the  harness  which  will  make 
out  the  intended  pattern.  For  this  purpose  it  is  necessary  to 
have  as  many  cards  or  slips  as  there  are  required  threads  of 
shoot  to  make  out  or  complete  the  pattern  ;  this  number  of 
cards,  where  the  pattern  is  large,  or  of  great  variety,  is  very 
considerable.  The  whole  of  them  are  fastened  together  by 
threads  at  their  extreme  ends  or  corners,  in  the  manner 
shown  in  the  drawing  ;  and  they  thus  form  a  kind  of  endless 


CHAP.  IV. 


FIGURE  WEAVING. 


205 


chain,  one  complete  revolution  of  which  makes  out  the  pat- 
tern, which  the  continued  working  of  the  loom  repeats  to  the 
end  of  the  warp. 

The  revolutions  of  the  card  slips  with  the  revolving  bar, 
and  the  precision  with  which  they  must  take  their  position 
upon  it,  so  as  to  cause  the  coincidence  of  their  perforations,  is 
provided  for  by  conical  studs  i  i  upon  the  revolving  bar,  upon 
which  studs  the  slips  adjust  themselves  by  means  of  the 
larger  perforations  j  j  made  in  them  for  that  purpose. 

Fig.  22. 


8 


206 


SiLK  MANUFACTURE. 


PAET  III. 


The  punching  of  these  card  slips  for  the  composition  of 
different  patterns  is  a  distinct  and  separate  business  from 
that  of  the  weaver,  to  whom  the  cards  are  given  out,  to- 
gether with  the  silk  to  be  woven,  by  the  master  manufac- 
turer. A  sort  of  property  in  the  pattern  is  thus  retained  by 
the  master,  which,  should  it  become  a  favorite  with  the  pub- 
lic, proves  to  him  an  affair  of  some  considerable  advantage.* 

The  regular  and  successive  revolutions  of  the  square  re- 
volving bar  are  thus  managed. 

The  bar  k  must  be  hung  by  its  end  pivots  I  in  a  frame  m, 
which  is  so  jointed  above  as  to  swing  from  and  to  the  side  of 
the  frame  d  with  an  unvarying  motion.  The  bar,  which  has 
been  shown  separately,  will  be  seen  to  have  at  one  end  four 
pillars  nop  and  q,  into  which  the  hook  r  catches  in  succes- 
sion, so  as  to  cause  the  bar  to  make  one  fourth  of  a  revolution. 
The  precision  of  this  movement  is  also  guarded  by  a  bar, 
shaped  like  the  letter  T  reversed,  s  s  £,  which  is  pressed  on 
the  two  upper  pillars  of  the  revolving  bar  by  the  action  of  a 
spring.  The  frame  m  is  swung  from  the  frame  d  by  the 
roller  u,  which,  being  attached  to  the  frame  h,  rises  with  it, 
and  works  in  the  hook-shaped  bar  v  attached  to  the  frame  mr 
causing  the  latter  to  swing  on  its  uppper  joint ;  and  by  the 
same  means  the  depression  of  the  frame  h  must  again  draw 
the  frame  m  to  the  position  it  had  quitted  against  the  frame  dL 

The  catching  of  the  hook  r  in  the  pillar  n  permits  the 
swinging  of  the  frame  m  only  through  the  turning  of  the  re- 
volving bar,  the  outer  vertical  side  of  which  is  thus  made  tc* 
take  a  horizontal  position  in  the  upper  part  of  the  frame 
By  its  return  against  the  frame  d,  another  of  the  pillars,  o,  is 
brought  within  the  hook  r,  and  secured  in  readiness  for  the 
next  swinging  movement  of  m.  The  revolving  bar  is  thus 
seen  to  have  both  a  vibratory  and  a  revolving  motion ;  the 
first  occasioned  by  the  swinging  of  the  frame  m,  to  which  it 
is  connected  on  its  pivots,  and  the  second  by  the  restraining 
action  of  the  hook  r. 

The  cord  w  x  so  connects  the  two  opposite  and  similar 
hooks  r  and  y,  that  the  drawing  of  this  cord  upward  will 
throw  the  hook  r  out  of  action,  and  cause  the  successive 
catching  of  the  pillars  nop  and  q  by  the  hook  y  instead, 
when  the  motion  of  the  revolving  bar  will  necessarily  be  re- 
versed. This  provision  is  made  in  order  to  enable  the 
weaver  to  repair  any  accident  that  may  occur,  through  the 
probable  breaking  of  the  warp  threads,  or  the  possible  disar- 
rangement of  the  harness.    The  movement  of  the  card  slips 


*  Note  G 


CHAP.  IV. 


FIGURE  WEAVING. 


207 


being*  of  course  reversed  by  this  means,  the  weaver  tries 
back  his  work  sufficiently  to  accomplish  his  purpose ;  and 
then,  by  pulling*  down  the  cord  w  x,  the  lower  hook  is  re- 
leased, and  the  upper  one  is  ag-ain  engaged,  so  that  the  re- 
volving bar  and  the  card  slips  once  more  proceed  in  the  for- 
ward direction,  and  the  weaving"  again  advances. 

The  lines  numbered  1,  2,  3,  &c.  represent  the  card  slips 
and  their  situations  during  the  working  of  the  loom.  The 
junction  of  the  slip  numbered  175  to  that  numbered  1  shows 
how,  by  the  repeated  succession  of  all  the  cards,  the  endless 
repetitions  of  the  pattern  are  produced  in  the  manufacture. 

It  will  be  observed,  that  the  card  slips  are  so  perforated, 
that,  in  addition  to  the  blank  spaces  necessary  to  make  out 
the  particular  pattern  required,  they  likewise  oppose  blanks, 
alternately,  through  their  whole  extent,  to  each  intermediate 
row  of  needles  in  the  frame  d.  If  the  card  No.  1.  entirely 
covers  the  first,  third,  fifth,  and  seventh  rows  of  perforations  in 
the  revolving  bar,  the  card  No.  2.  will,  in  like  manner,  cover 
the  second,  fourth,  sixth,  and  eighth  rows ;  by  which  means  the 
requisite  succession  of  the  harness  is  uniformly  preserved. 

Availing  himself  of  this  necessity  for  covering  the  alter- 
nate rows  of  perforations,  Mr.  J.  Hughes,  of  Bethnal  Green, 
has  ingeniously  proposed  to  employ  the  same  set  of  card  slips 
in  producing  two  distinct  patterns,  by  using  their  intermediate 
blank  spaces,  and  causing  the  requisite  succession  of  the 
harness  by  means  of  other  cards,  perforated  accordingly,  and 
which  are  fixed,  with  that  view,  on  the  different  faces  of  the 
revolving  bar,  so  that  the  first  and  third  faces  have  their  first, 
third,  fifth,  and  seventh  perforations  covered,  while  the  sec- 
ond and  fourth  faces  have  their  other  four  alternate  rows 
concealed :  these  fixed  cards  thus  become  substitutes  for  the 
intermediate  blank  spaces  on  the  revolving  card  slips,  and 
some  part  of  the  expense  and  labor  connected  with  the  sec- 
ond pattern  are  saved. 

The  Jacquard  loom  has  proved  so  beneficial  to  the  weaver, 
by  simplifying  the  most  difficult  portion  of  his  labor,  and  by 
so  importantly  economizing  his  time  in  the  preliminary,  and, 
to  him,  profitless  preparation  of  his  loom,  that  he  complains 
not  of  the  exertion  for  which  it  calls  in  depressing  the 
treadle  and  lever,  although  this  exertion  must  needs  be  very 
considerable,  from  the  friction  of  its  parts,  the  resistance  of 
so  many  springs,  and  the  raising  of  the  numerous  weights, 
by  the  reaction  of  which  the  harness  of  the  loom  is  depressed. 
It  is  some  time,  however,  ere  the  weaver  who  adopts  the 
use  of  this  really  beautiful  apparatus  becomes  sufficiently  fa- 


208 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


miliar  with  its  arrangements  to  carry  forward  his  labor  with 
a  satisfactory  degree  of  celerity ;  but  when  this  is  once  ac- 
complished, the  comfort  which  he  derives  from  those  ar- 
rangements affords  ample  amends  for  the  cares  of  his  no- 
viciate ;  and  there  are  not  any  by  whom,  under  such  circum- 
stances, it  would  willingly  be  abandoned. 

The  Jacquard  apparatus  is  provided  by  the  master  manu- 
facturer, and  continues,  of  course,  equally  with  the  card  slips, 
to  be  his  property;  an  arrangement  rendered  necessary  by 
the  poverty  of  the  weavers,  scarcely  one  of  whom  could  fur- 
nish the  means  for  providing  the  machine. 

Each  set  of  cards,  when  it  is  removed  from  the  loom  to 
make  room  for  another  set  with  a  different  pattern,  is  care- 
fully tied  up,  and,  as  a  distinctive  label,  the  bundle  has  at- 
tached to  it  a  portion  of  the  fabric  which  has  been  woven,  so 
that  the  manufacturer  may  know,  at  a  glance,  what  set  of 
cards  to  employ  for  the  production  of  any  one  of  his  particu- 
lar patterns. 

The  general  introduction  of  this  apparatus  was  impeded 
for  some  time,  owing  to  the  great  height  which  was  required 
in  the  apartment  destined  for  its  erection.  Within  the  last 
twelve  months,  an  improvement  has  been  effected,  which 
renders  the  invention  more  extensively  available,  by  admit- 
ting of  its  erection  in  apartments  not  beyond  the  ordinary 
height  of  chambers  inhabited  by  silk  weavers.  This  improve- 
ment was  brought  under  the  notice  of  the  Society  for  the  En- 
couragement of  Arts,  Manufactures,  and  Commerce,  and  was, 
on  that  occasion,  deemed  deserving  of  reward  both  pecuniary 
and  honorary.  This  society  has  always  been  alive  to  the 
great  importance  of  the  silk  manufacture  to  this  country,  and 
has  done  more  for  the  encouragement  of  ingenious  artisans  in 
this  branch  of  industry  than  has  been,  or  than  could  be,  ef- 
fected by  the  patent  laws  under  the  present  system ;  the 
great  bulk  of  the  inventors  being  in  a  situation  of  life  which 
deprives  them  of  all  means  for  securing  to  themselves  the 
privileges  of  a  patent. 

To  give  an  intelligible  account  of  the  alteration  thus  ef- 
fected, it  is  necessary  to  explain,  that  the  cords  whereby  the 
leaden  weights,  which  are  called  lingos,  are  attached  to  the 
harness,  are  each  led  through  a  hole  in  a  board  in  front  of  and 
somewhat  lower  than  the  breast-roll  of  the  loom  :  this  is  call- 
ed a  comber-board  ;  and  its  numerous  holes  are  so  disposed 
in  lines,  that  the  rows  which  cross  the  loom  comprise  a 
greater  number  of  holes  than  the  rows  which  run  in  the  di- 
rection of  its  length.    On  the  other  hand,  the  rows  of  lifting 


CHAP.  IV. 


FIGURE  WEAVING. 


209 


hooks  contained  in  the  apparatus  above  are  in  the  greatest 
number  in  this  last-mentioned  direction.  In  attaching  the 
harness  to  the  lifting  hooks,  it  had  been  usual  to  connect 
each  cord  with  that  individual  hook  which  would  have  stood 
in  the  most  natural  relation  to  it,  provided  the  comber-board 
and  lifting  hooks  had  stood  in  the  same  direction;  but  as 
they  do  not  so  stand,  it  is  evident  that  this  disposition  of  the 
cords  must  occasion  a  twisting  of  them  among  each  other ; 
and  hence  arose  the  necessity  for  carrying  them  through  a 
wider  range  of  space,  that  the  chances  of  entanglement  or 
confusion  might  be  diminished.  This  mode  of  connecting 
the  harness  with  the  lifting  hooks  is  called  "  the  London  tie." 
The  improvement  consists  in  connecting  each  cord  with  the 
individual  hook  which  stands  in  the  most  natural  relation  to 
it  in  the  actual  position  of  the  different  parts  :  this  is  called 
"  the  Norwich  tie  ;"  and  by  reason  of  its  diminishing  the 
chances  of  entanglement  among  the  numerous  cords,  makes 
it  practicable  to  confine  the  harness  within  a  narrower  range 
of  space. 

Besides  the  economy  of  space  thus  acquired,  it  was  found 
practicable  to  diminish,  in  some  degree,  the  height  given  to 
the  framing  of  the  apparatus ;  and  the  combination  of  these 
two  circumstances  brought  the  whole  machine,  as  has  been 
before  mentioned,  within  the  height  of  chambers  such  as  are 
commonly  inhabited  by  journeymen  weavers.  Previously  to 
this  alteration,  it  had  been  by  no  means  uncommon  to  cut 
away  the  ceiling  of  the  apartment  in  the  spot  directly  over 
the  Jacquard  apparatus ;  but  it  is  obvious  that  recourse  could 
not  always  be  had  to  even  this  bungling  expedient. 

The  Society  for  the  Encouragement  of  Arts  has  very  re- 
cently given  encouragement  to  another  alteration,  which  ef- 
fects a  very  desirable  simplification  of  this  ingenious  inven- 
tion, dispensing  altogether  with  the  helical  springs  which 
serve  to  push  forward  the  needles,  and  substituting  cords  and 
perforated  boards  for  the  lifting  hooks  and  lifting  bars  of  the 
original  machine. 

This  improvement  is  the  contrivance  of  Mr.  William  Jen- 
nings, a  practical  weaver  and  machine-maker,  of  Bethnal 
Green.  The  means  whereby  it  is  attained  will  appear  on 
consulting  the  following  diagram  : — 

The  cords  attached  to  the  harness,  of  which,  to  avoid  con- 
fusion, eight  only  are  here  given,  are  fastened  to  the  top  of 
the  frame  a  a,  bb,  which  is  to  be  raised  by  the  action  of  the 
treadle  and  lever.  The  under  board  b  b  of  this  frame,  through 
which  the  cords  pass  in  their  descent,  is  perforated  with  tha 
S  2 


210 


*ILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  III. 


Pig.  23. 


1 

i 

| 
1 
1 

\ 

.-A, 

i 

cl 

/ 

a 

i 

/ 

cl — /- 

/ 

/ 

l 

/ 

/ 

/ 

j 

— * 

requisite  number  of  holes  ;  and  in  connexion  with  each  one 
of  these  holes  is  a  small  slit,  the  width  of  which  is  narrower 
than  the  diameter  of  the  hole  from  which  it  proceeds.  This 
perforated  board  b  b  answers  the  same  purpose  as  the  lifting 
bars ;  for  each  of  the  harness  cords  having  a  knot  made  in 
it  in  the  exact  spot  to  which  the  lower  board  b  b  of  the  frame 
will  descend  with  the  return  stroke  of  the  lever,  either  these 
knots  will,  by  the  protruding  of  the  needles  as  at  c  c,  be  de- 
tained upon  the  upper  surface  of  b  b  from  their  inability  to 
pass  through  the  slits,  or,  by  the  passing  back  of  the  needles, 
as  at  d  d,  the  knots  will  be  made  to  coincide  with  the  holes 
in  b  b,  through  which  they  are  small  enough  to  pass  freely. 
The  portion  of  the  harness  with  which  they  are  connected 
will,  consequently,  not  be  raised.  Another  perforated  board, 
e  e,  is  placed  beneath  the  horizontal  needles,  and  through 
this  the  cords  descend  to  the  comber-board  f  /,  which  is  simi- 
lar to  the  one  formerly  described  :  the  cords  of  the  harness, 
passing  through  this,  are  kept  extended  by  the  plummets,  or 
lingos,  at  their  bottom  ends,  and  these  perform  the  office  of 
springs  in  bringing  forward  the  horizontal  needles  cc,  dd, 
whenever  they  meet  with  coinciding  perforations  in  the  re- 


CHAP.  IV. 


FIGURE  WEAVING. 


211 


volving  bar;  the  lifting  cords  then  insinuate  themselves  be- 
tween the  slits,  and  are  raised  by  means  of' their  knots,  as 
before  described. 

For  clearer  elucidation,  the  board  b  b  is  here  given,  with 
its  circular  holes  and  slits  for  the  passage  or  detention  of  the 
knots.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  instead  of  the  small 
number  here  delineated,  this  board  has  400,  and  sometimes 
even  a  greater  number,  of  holes  and  slits,  but  the  indication 
of  which  in  so  small  a  space  as  this  diagram  would  have  ren- 
dered it  less  clear  and  intelligible. 


In  the  course  of  the  very  few  years  during  which  the  Jac- 
quard  machine  has  been  known  in  England,  it  has  been  thus 
materially  simplified  and  improved ;  while  in  Lyons,  the  city 
of  its  birth,  it  still  remains  unaltered,  either  in  form  or  ar- 
rangement, from  the  original  conception  of  its  first  ingenious 
inventor.  It  has  been  recorded  by  the  baron  Ch.  Dupin,  that 
Jacquard  had  to  encounter  the  most  bitter  annoyances  from 
his  fellow-citizens,  who  have  been  so  materially  benefited  by 
his  ingenuity.  Several  years  elapsed  before  his  machinery 
was  generally  adopted,  during  which  period  a  thousand  ob- 
stacles were  offered  to  its  introduction;  a  fact  which  can 
well  be  credited  by  all  persons  who  have  had  opportunities 
*for  observing  with  what  pertinacity  old  forms  and  practices 
are  adhered  to  by  the  common-place  bulk  of  every  communi- 
ty ;  and  how  great  is  the  disinclination  of  the  operative  me- 
chanic to  adopt  improvements  which,  with  a  self-sufficiency 
engendered  by  the  dexterity  acquired  in  following  old  meth- 
ods, he  is  pleased  to  condemn  as  "  new-fangled  nonsense." 

The  mode  whereby  the  perforations  in  the  card-slips  are 
so  made  as  to  influence  the  raising  of  different  portions  of  the 
warp  threads  in  the  order  of  succession  necessary  for  making 
out  the  desired  pattern,  is  exceedingly  ingenious. 

The  pattern — or  as  it  is  called,  the  design — is  drawn  of  a 
size  much  larger  than  it  is  intended  shall  be  given  to  it  in 
the  woven  fabric,  upon  paper  previously  divided  by  lines  into 
very  small  squares,  in  the  manner  described  in  the  following 


Fig.  24. 


h 


212 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  nr. 


figure,  the  cross  lines  of  which  represent  the  intersecting 
threads  of  the  goods.  This  mode  of  proceeding  has  been 
long  followed  in  building  the  monture  of  draw-looms ;  that  is, 
in  preparing  them  for  weaving  intricate  or  extensive  patterns. 

Fig.  25. 


Placing  this  paper  before  him,  and  provided  with  a  frame 
containing  a  number  of  vertical  threads  answering  to  the 
warp  of  the  goods,  sufficient  to  comprise  the  width  of  the  de- 
sign, the  workman  proceeds  to  read  on  the  design,  by  taking 
up  with  a  very  long  needle  such  of  the  threads  as  are  inter- 
sected by  the  pattern,  inserting  by  its  means  a  cross  thread 
under  these,  and  carrying  it  over  all  the  remaining  threads 
in  the  same  line ;  repeating  this  process  until  he  has  insert- 
ed as  great  a  number  of  shoots  as  there  are  of  cross  lines  oc- 
cupied in  making  out  the  pattern,  and  which  sometimes 
amount  to  as  many  as  five  hundred  shoots.  Thus,  in  fact, 
transferring  the  design  by  a  succession  of  what  may  be  call- 
ed darning  stitches  from  the  ruled  paper  to  the  threads  in 
his  frame. 

To  facilitate  the  reading  on  of  the  design,  every  tenth  line 
which  divides  the  pattern  paper  into  squares  is  described  in 
a  bolder  manner  than  the  other  lines.  When  the  design  is 
extensive,  the  operation  is  generally  performed  by  two  per- 
sons, one  of  whom  directs-  what  threads  are  to  be  raised, 
while  the  other  makes  the  necessary  insertions  of  the  needle. 
In  reading  on  the  design  here  given  {fig*  25.)  the  beginning 
would  be  made  at  the  bottom,  and  as  the  spaces  on  the  paper 
are  always  counted  from  right  to  left,  the  instruction  would 
be,  "  pass  thirty  and  take  two."    Part  of  the  flower  is  de- 


CHAP.  IV. 


FIGURE  WEAVING. 


213 


scribed  in  the  second  row  of  squares,  and  the  instruction  for 
this  would  be  "  pass  nineteen,  take  three ;  pass  eight,  take 
two."  The  third  shoot  comprises  other  parts  of  the  flower, 
and  the  workman  would  be  told,  "  pass  ten,  take  three ;  pass 
five,  take  five ;  pass  seven,  take  two ;  pass  seven,  take  four ;" 
and  proceeding  thus  with  as  many  cross  shoots  as  there  are  of 
transverse  lines  on  the  paper,  which  in  this  case  comprises 
only  thirty-five,  the  whole  design  would  be  included. 

When  this  is  done,  the  next  operation  is  to  attach  the 
threads  thus  interlaced  to  the  card-punching  machine.  This 
piece  of  mechanism  is  in  every  way  similar  in  its  principle, 
and  nearly  identical  in  its  arrangements,  with  the  Jacquard 
machine;  being,  like  it,  provided  witfi  lifting-cords,  and 
wires,  and  needles,  all  connected  in  the  manner  already  de- 
scribed in  this  chapter,  so  that  by  pulling  the  lifcing-cords, 
the  needles  will  be  protruded.  In  front  of  these  needles, 
and  answering  to  the  revolving  bar,  a  perforated  plate,  about 
two  inches  thick,  is  fixed :  each  of  the  perforations  in  this  is 
provided  with  a  movable  steel  punch  or  cutter  of  a  cylindri- 
cal form,  so  that  the  protrusion  of  any  of  the  needles  will 
drive  forward  their  corresponding  punches,  and  deposit  them 
in  another  similarly  perforated  iron  plate,  about  one  inch  in 
thickness,  temporarily  applied  for  that  purpose  against  the 
face  of  the  plate  first  described. 

One  end  of  each  warp  thread  in  the  pattern  is  then  to  be 
connected  in  succession  with  the  individual  lifting-cords  of 
the  machine ;  and  it  is  evident  that  if  the  different  threads 
which  form  the  shoot,  and  which  for  this  purpose  are  made 
to  hang  out  on  each  side  beyond  the  selvage  of  the  warp,  are 
taken  separately  and  in  succession  by  each  end  and  drawn 
upwards,  all  the  warp  threads  wherewith  each  cross  thread 
is  engaged,  will  be  separated  from  the  rest,  and  may  be  col- 
lected together  in  the  hand ;  by  then  pulling  them,  the  par- 
ticular lifting  cords  to  which  they  are  attached  will  be  drawn, 
their  corresponding  needles  will  be  protruded,  and  the  cylin- 
drical cutters  by  that  means  driven  out  of  the  perforations  in 
the  fixed  plate  into  the  corresponding  cavities  of  the  movable 
plate. 

The  blank  card-slip,  which  is  to  be  perforated,  is  next  ap- 
plied to  the  face  of  the  movable  plate,  and  against  the 
points  of  the  punches;  and  both  being  then  removed  to- 
gether, and  placed  upon  a  third  perforated  plate  in  a  press, 
the  punches  are  driven  through  the  card-slip  in  the  requisite 
spots.  The  punches  being  replaced  in  the  machine,  a  sec- 
ond shoot  of  the  thread  pattern  drawn  up,  and  its  interlaced 


214 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


warp  thread  pulled  as  before,  the  punches  connected  with 
the  answering  lifting-cords  and  needles  are  in  like  manner 
protruded  into  the  movable  plate,  and  forced  through  an- 
other blank  card ;  and,  by  proceeding  in  this  manner,  the 
whole  series  of  card-slips  will  be  unerringly  prepared.  Hav- 
ing been  previously  numbered,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  attach- 
ing them  together  in  their  proper  order  of  succession,  holes 
for  this  purpose  being  made  by  the  same  action  of  the  press 
which  stamps  the  perforations  for  the  pattern,  punches  for 
this  purpose  being  permanently  inserted  in  proper  cavities  of 
the  movable  iron  plate. 

A  modification  of  the  Jacquard  machine  has  been  intro- 
duced to  use  by  Mr.  Samuel  Dean,  of  Bethnal  Green,  also 
an  operative  weaver.  In  this  the  card-slips  are  altogether 
dispensed  with,  by  adopting  the  use  of  two  revolving  bars 
placed  on  opposite  sides  of  the  machine.  Each  of  these  bars 
has  eight  faces,  and  the  loom  is  actuated  by  two  treadles. 
The  variations  of  pattern  are  provided  for  in  the  working  of 
this  machine,  by  temporarily  stopping  such  holes  in  the  re- 
volving bars  as  will  influence  the  raising  of  those  threads  of 
the  warp  upon  which  the  production  of  the  pattern  depends. 
It  is  quite  obvious,  however,  that  this  modification  can  only 
be  applied  to  the  production  of  very  simple  patterns,  it  being 
capable  of  employing  no  more  than  sixteen  casts  of  the  shut- 
tle for  their  completion.  This  altered  arrangement  is,  there- 
fore, of  very  limited  utility,  and  bears  no  comparison  with 
the  truly  valuable  invention  of  Jacquard. 

In  one  branch,  and  that  an  essential  one,  of  the  interesting 
art  of  figure  weaving,  the  manufacturers  of  Lyons  enjoy  a 
superior  reputation  to  us ;  their  designs  are  more  pleasing, 
more  varied,  and  display  a  more  correct  taste  than  ours  can 
boast.  For  this  superiority  there  is  a  very  sufficient  reason 
furnished,  by  the  establishment  existing  in  that  city  of  "  the 
School  of  Arts,"  which  offers  valuable  means  for  the  study 
of  drawing  in  all  its  various  branches,  and  where  pattern  de- 
signers are  ably  instructed  in  all  the  best  rules  of  the  art 
which  they  cultivate. 

The  English  have  been  considered  inferior  to  their  conti- 
nental neighbors  in  the  faculty  of  invention,  at  least  in  this 
particular  branch  of  the  fine  arts.  Without  entering  into 
the  investigation  of  this  question,  which  might,  perhaps,  in 
any  case,  be  decided  more  under  the  influence  of  national 
partiality  than  according  to  the  fact,  it  must  be  owned  that 
the  French  have  adopted  systematic  means  for  calling  forth 
and  improving  the  talent  of  tasteful  invention ;  while  with 


CHAP.  IV. 


FIGURE  WEAVING. 


215 


us  this  is  left  entirely  to  individual  and  unassisted  efforts.  It 
is,  besides,  probable  that  the  favor  wherewith  French  patterns 
are  received  by  the  leaders  of  fashion  in  this  country,  tends 
still  further  to  repress  the  efforts  of  English  artists,  as  far  as 
originality  is  concerned ;  since  it  is  found  more  profitable  to 
imitate  or  to  copy  patterns,  thus  recommended  to  the  general 
adoption,  than  to  venture  upon  producing  others,  which 
would  be  without  this  adventitious  value. 


CHAP.  V. 

MECHANICAL,  OR  POWER-WEAVING. 

Great  Advantages  of  Machinery  in  abridging  Labor. — First  Proposal  for  a 
Power-Loom. — Dr.  Cartwright's  Invention. — Causes  of  its  little  Success. 
— Parliamentary  Reward. — Austin's  Power-Loom. — Mode  of  its  Action. 
— Reasons  for  preferring  Hand-weaving  for  Silken  Fabrics. — Hand-Power- 
Looms.— Mr.  Sadler's  Invention.— Double  and  Quadruple  Looms. — Pro- 
portion wherein  they  are  said  to  abridge  Labor. 

The  means  of  substituting  mechanical  power  for  the  labor 
of  the  hands  in  weaving  must  be  classed  among  the  splendid 
offerings  made  by  genius  at  the  shrine  of  utility. 

The  facility  thus  given  to  the  production  of  goods  has  al- 
ways excited  the  apprehensions,  and  frequently  has  prompted 
the  hostility,  of  persons  previously  employed  in  their  manu- 
facture. Even  among  other  and  better  informed  classes 
there  have  not  been  wanting  systematic  opponents  to  the  in- 
troduction of  machinery,  who,  taking  up  the  broad  line  of  ar- 
gument maintained  by  Montesquieu,  have  asserted  that  the 
saving  of  labor  is  hurtful  to  the  true  interests  of  communi- 
ties. That  the  first  introductions  of  mechanical  facilities  to  la- 
bor have  been,  and  must  always  be,  accompanied  by  hardship  to 
the  artisans  previously  employed  in  any  branch  so  invaded,  is 
a  position  which,  although  frequently  much  exaggerated,  is 
yet  incontrovertibly  true ;  but  however  much  the  fact  may 
be  deplored,  and  however  strenuously  the  benevolent  man 
should  set  himself  to  devise  and  to  practise  means  for  allevi- 
ating the  unavoidable  evil,  there  still  would  be  but  little  wis- 
dom, and,  taking  a  more  extended  vie  w,  but  little  real  philan- 
thropy, in  setting  bounds  to  the  progress  of  improvements 
which  are  calculated  to  bring  the  enjoyments  and  conveni- 
ences of  life  within  the  reach  of  a  larger  number  of  indi- 
viduals. The  injury  to  the  deprived  artisan  is  probably  but 
temporary,  while  the  benefit  to  society  is  lasting  and  pro- 
gressive.   The  very  individuals  who  suffer  from  this  kind  of 


216 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III* 


interference  with  their  own  particular  line  of  pursuit,  are  in- 
terested in  fostering  improvements  in  regard  to  every  other 
article  of  human  production.  The  class  of  consumers  must 
always  be  more  numerous  than  that  of  producers ;  and  it  would 
be  difficult  in  the  present  day  to  maintain  the  proposition,  that 
the  lasting  interests  of  the  many  are  to  be  sacrificed  for  the 
temporary  advantage  of  a  number  comparatively  insignificant. 

It  can  scarcely  be  considered  as  properly  belonging  to  a 
treatise  on  the  silk  manufacture,  to  enter  historically  and  at 
length  into  the  question  of  the  first  invention  of  power-looms ; 
or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  into  a  description  of  the  means 
proposed  for  their  achievement,  since  the  practicability  of 
such  an  adaptation  was  imagined,  and  projects  for  its  accom- 
plishment were  published,  many  years  before  these  were  sub- 
mitted to  the  test  of  practice. 

As  early  as  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
drawing  and  description  of  a  loom  for  mechanical  weaving 
was  presented  to  the  Royal  Society  of  London.  Although 
there  is  every  reason  for  believing  that  this  circumstance 
was  wholly  unknown  to  the  ingenious  author  of  the  actual 
loom  first  employed  in  this  very  interesting  object,  there  does 
not  appear  to  exist  any  material  difference  between  this  ma- 
chine and  the  earlier  description.  The  conception  and  ac- 
complishment of  this  important  invention,  by  a  gentleman 
totally  unconnected  with  the  pursuit  of  manufactures,  unac- 
quainted even  at  the  time  with  the  commonest  processes  used 
in  weaving,  whose  pursuits  in  life  were  of  a  nature  wholly 
foreign  to  the  mechanical  arts,  and  whose  attention  was 
drawn  to  the  subject  by  circumstances  purely  accidental,  is  a 
fact  so  curious  and  interesting,  that  the  insertion  of  the  fol- 
lowing letter,  which  the  inventor,  the  Rev.  Edmund  Cart- 
wright,  D.D.,  afterwards  wrote  upon  the  subject  to  the  re- 
spectable secretary  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  Glasgow, 
needs  no  apology : — 

"Happening  to  be  at  Matlock  in  the  summer  of  1784,  I 
fell  in  company  with  some  gentlemen  of  Manchester,  when 
the  conversation  turned  on  Arkwright's  spinning  machinery. 
One  of  the  company  observed,  that  as  soon  as  Arkwright's 
patent  expired,  so  many  mills  would  be  erected,  and  so  much 
cotton  spun,  that  hands  never  could  be  found  to  weave  it.  To 
this  observation  I  replied,  that  Arkwright  must  then  set  his 
wits  to  work  to  invent  a  weaving  mill.  This  brought  on  a 
conversation  on  the  subject,  in  which  the  Manchester  gentle- 
men unanimously  agreed  that  the  thing  was  impracticable ; 
and,  in  defence  of  their  opinion,  they  adduced  argument* 


CHAP.  V. 


POWER-WEAVING. 


217 


which  I  certainly  was  incompetent  to  answer  or  even  to  com- 
prehend, being  totally  ignorant  of  the  subject,  having  never 
at  that  time  seen  a  person  weave.  I  controverted,  however, 
the  impracticability  of  the  thing,  by  remarking  that  there 
had  lately  been  exhibited  in  London  an  automaton  figure 
which  played  at  chess.  'Now  you  will  not  assert,  gentle- 
men,' said  I,  '  that  it  is  more  difficult  to  construct  a  machine 
that  shall  weave,  than  one  which  shall  make  all  the  variety 
of  moves  which  are  required  in  that  complicated  game.' 

"  Some  little  time  afterwards  a  particular  circumstance  re- 
calling this  conversation  to  my  mind,  it  struck  me  that,  as  in 
plain  weaving,  according  to  the  conception  I  then  had  of  the 
business,  there  could  be  only  three  movements  which  were  to 
follow  each  other  in  succession,  there  would  be  little  difficulty 
in  producing  and  repeating  them.  Full  of  these  ideas,  I  im- 
mediately employed  a  carpenter  and  smith  to  carry  them  into 
effect.  As  soon  as  the  machine  was  finished,  I  got  a  weaver 
to  put  in  the  warp,  which  was  of  such  materials  as  sail-cloth 
is  usually  made  of:  to  my  great  delight  a  piece  of  cloth, 
such  as  it  was,  was  the  produce.  As  I  had  never  before 
turned  my  thoughts  to  any  thing  mechanical,  either  in  theory 
or  practice,  nor  had  ever  seen  a  loom  at  work,  or  knew  any 
thing  of  its  construction,  you  will  readily  suppose  that  my 
first  loom  must  have  been  a  most  rude  piece  of  machinery. 
The  warp  was  placed  perpendicularly ;  the  reed  fell  with  a 
force  of  at  least  half  a  hundred  weight;  and  the  springs 
wrhich  threw  the  shuttle  were  strong  enough  to  have  thrown 
a  Congreve  rocket ;  in  short,  it  required  the  strength  of  two 
powerful  men  to  work  the  machine  at  a  slow  rate,  and  only 
for  a  short  time.  Conceiving,  in  my  great  simplicity,  that  I 
had  accomplished  all  that  was  required,  I  then  secured  what  I 
thought  a  most  valuable  property  by  a  patent,  4th  of  April, 
1785.  This  being  done,  I  then  condescended  to  see  how 
other  people  wove;  and  you  will  guess  my  astonishment 
when  I  compared  their  easy  modes  of  operation  with  mine. 
Availing  myself,  however,  of  what  I  then  saw,  I  made  a 
loom,  in  its  general  principles  nearly  as  they  are  now  made  : 
but  it  was  not  till  the  year  1787  that  I.  completed  my  inven- 
tion, when  I  took  out  my  last  weaving  patent,  August  1,  of 
that  year." 

The  history  of  this  invention  is  farther  curious,  as  illus- 
trating some  of  the  many  difficulties  which  so  frequently  at- 
tend upon  the  introduction  of  new  plans,  and  which  call  for 
the  exercise  of  patience  the  most  unwearied,  and  of  energies 
the  most  unquenchable,  to  preserve  inventions  of  even  the 


218 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


very  highest  value  from  falling  into  neglect  and  oblivion. 
How  many  such  inventions  have  been  so  lost  to  the  world,  at 
least  for  a  time,  it  were  vain  to  inquire ;  that  they  have  been 
many  will  be  readily  acknowledged,  when  it  is  considered 
how  seldom  are  seen  combined  in  the  same  person,  the  faculty 
of  invention,  with  the  more  active,  and,  perhaps,  more  diffi- 
cult quality  of  perseverance  under  repeated  difficulties  and 
disappointments.  The  man  of  common-place  endowments 
will  combat  steadily  and  successfully  against  the  tyranny  of 
circumstances,  while  the  aspiring  efforts  of  genius  are  chain- 
ed down  by  the  hands  of  ignorance  and  prejudice.  It  were, 
perhaps,  wrong  to  cast  this  censure  upon  society,  unqualified 
by  the  further  remark,  that  inventors  are  frequently  found 
too  far  in  advance  of  the  age  in  which  they  live.  The  in- 
vention of  Dr.  Cartwright  itself  affords  evidence  of  this  fact. 
Power-looms  could  not  have  been  extensively  employed  at 
the  period  of  their  inception,  when  the  supply  of  cotton  wool 
did  not  amount  to  one  tenth  part  of  the  quantity  which  now 
passes  annually  through  the  hands  of  our  manufacturers. 
Even  had  the  supply  of  the  raw  material  been  increased  pro- 
portionally with  the  means  for  its  conversion,  the  quantity 
of  fabrics  which  power-weaving  has  been  found  adequate  to 
produce  would  have  far  outstripped  the  then  existing  wants 
of  mankind. 

At  the  end  of  three  years  from  its  first  conception,  Dr. 
Cartwright,  having,  as  we  have  seen,  secured  to  himself  the 
benefit  of  his  invention  by  patent,  erected  a  weaving  mill  at 
Doncaster,  and  furnished  it  with  looms  wherewith  to  prose- 
cute the  business  of  v/eaving.  These  machines  were  evi- 
dently found  to  be  incomplete  and  insufficient  for  the  purpose, 
as  the  reverend  doctor  procured  grants  of  three  other  patents 
successively  for  improvements  upon  his  first  invention ;  the 
last  of  these  patents  being  dated  the  13th  of  November, 
1788,  as  appears  from  the  report  of  a  committee  of  the  house 
of  commons,  to  whom  the  doctor's  various  patents  were  pro- 
duced ;  and  not  on  the  1st  of  August  in  the  preceding  year, 
as  erroneously  stated  in  the  foregoing  letter ;  this  last  being 
the  date  of  the  third  patent  granted  to  Dr.  Cartwright  for 
this  object. 

In  the  many  alterations  rendered  necessary  by  these  im- 
provements, and  in  the  disbursements  indispensably  attendant 
upon  the  establishment  of  so  important  a  concern,  Dr.  Cart- 
wright expended  a  sum  of  money  equal  to  between  30,000/. 
and  40,000?. !  and  was  compelled  to  abandon  his  manufactory. 

Subsequent  to  this,  in  the  year  1791,  Messrs.  Robert  Grim- 


CHAP.  V. 


POWER- WEAVING. 


219 


shaw  and  Sons,  of  Manchester,  erected  a  weaving  factory 
calculated  to  contain  400  power-looms,  and  entered  into  an 
agreement  with  Dr.  Cartwright  for  a  license  to  use  his  patent. 
But  this  establishment  was  from  the  first  viewed  with  ex- 
treme jealousy  on  the  part  of  the  operative  weavers,  who 
feared  lest  the  employment  of  machinery  for  effecting  the 
object  of  their  labors  should  deprive  them  of  the  means  of 
subsistence.  Threats  were  held  out  by  anonymous  letters, 
with  a  view  of  deterring  the  parties  from  proceeding  with 
their  factory;  and  no  sooner  had  Messrs.  Grimshaws  erected 
and  set  to  work  twelve  looms  under  their  agreement,  than 
the  building  and  machinery  were  wilfully  destroyed  by  fire  ; 
and  such  menaces  continued  to  be  used  by  the  weavers  as  at 
that  time  effectually  restrained  these  gentlemen  and  all  other 
manufacturers  from  further  prosecuting  the  invention. 

Dr.  Cartwright's  plans  accordingly  slept  until  the  expira- 
tion of  his  patents  destroyed  all  hope  of  his  deriving  any 
advantage  under  them.  In  the  year  1808,  backed  by  a  re- 
commendatory memorial  signed  by  almost  all  the  principal 
manufacturers  of  Manchester  and  its  neighborhood,  he  pre- 
sented a  petition  to  the  house  of  commons,  to  consider  which 
a  committee  was  appointed  ;  and  upon  the  evidence  reported 
by  this  committee,  the  house  proceeded  to  vote  to  Dr.  Cart- 
wright  the  sum  of  10,000/.  as  some  compensation  for  his  out- 
lay and  disappointment. 

In  the  year  1798,  Mr.  Monteith,  of  Pollockshaws,  near 
Glasgow,  erected  the  first  power-loom  that  was  applied  to  the 
weaving  of  cotton  fabrics.  For  a  long  time  after  this,  it  was 
held  and  believed  that  the  texture  of  silk,  from  its  extreme 
delicacy,  called  for  such  incessant  watchfulness  on  the  part 
of  the  weaver,  that  his  eye  and  hand  wTere  constantly  re- 
quired to  detect  and  to  remedy  defects,  which,  though  trifling 
and  not  likely  to  be  observed  in  the  combination  of  coarser 
goods,  would  greatly  impair  the  beauty  and  lessen  the  value 
of  silken  fabrics.  This  opinion,  although  doubtless  true  to  a 
material  extent,  has,  however,  been  proved  to  be  not  wholly 
so,  since  powTer-looms  to  a  considerable  number  have  been 
constructed  and  successfully  employed  for  the  production  of 
both  broad  silks  and  ribands.  It  is,  therefore,  necessary  to 
give  some  description  of  the  mechanical  arrangements  where- 
by, in  this  as  in  so  many  other  branches  of  human  industry, 
the  ingenuity  of  man  has  subdued  even  the  elements  to  his 
power,  and  has  rendered  the  viewless  wind,  the  impetuous 
stream,  and  the  raging  fire,  vassals  of  his  will. 

The  power-loom  erected  for  Mr.  Monteith  was  constructed 


220 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


by  Mr.  Austin,  of  Glasgow,  who  has  placed  a  model  of  his 
machine  in  the  repository  of  the  Society  for  the  Encourage- 
ment of  Arts,  Manufactures,  and  Commerce  in  London.  A 
square  iron  axis,  which  extends  through  the  entire  length  of 
the  bed  of  the  machine,  is  actuated  by  a  cog-wheel,  which  is 
connected  by  means  of  a  pinion  with  a  fly-wheel,  which  gives 
motion  to  the  various  parts  of  the  loom ;  the  power  being  ap- 
plied to  the  shaft  of  the  fly-wheel  by  some  one  of  the  well- 
known  methods  of  communication.  The  axis  is  provided  with 
several  camms,  or  wheels  of  eccentric  form,  which  are  fixed 
securely  upon  it :  these,  as  they  revolve,  serve, 

1.  To  depress  the  treadles,  and  consequently  to  separate 
the  warp  into  different  portions,  as  in  the  ordinary  loom  is  ef- 
fected by  the  weaver's  foot 

2.  To  throw  the  shuttle  to  and  fro  through  the  shed  thus 
created. 

3.  To  strike  the  lay  or  batten  against  the  shoot,  and  to 
return  it  to  its  proper  position  :  and, 

4.  To  wind  the  woven  cloth  upon  the  cloth-roll  as  fast  as  it 
is  formed. 

The  warp  is  fixed  in  this  loom  precisely  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  has  been  already  detailed  in  the  description  of  the 
hand-loom.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  mounting  of  the 
heddles  or  harness,  and  of  the  provision  for  insuring  that  al- 
ternating motion  whereby  the  depression  of  the  one  causes 
the  raising  of  the  other  heddle.  The  camms  on  the  axis, 
which  take  the  office  of  the  weaver's  feet  in  working  the 
treadles,  are  both  exactly  similar  in  form  to  each  other,  but 
their  relative  position  on  the  axis  is  so  arranged  that  they  are 
brought  into  operation  at  opposite  periods  of  its  revolution. 
But  the  exact  situation  and  the  mode  of  working  both  will  be 
at  once  apparent,  if  we  imagine  the  revolution  of  the  axis  to 
carry  with  it  one  camra  ;  this,  from  its  irregular  shape,  strikes, 
at  the  exact  period  of  the  revolution  that  is  proper,  upon  the 
treadle,  and  keeps  it  depressed  until  a  change  in  the  position 
of  the  warp  is  required,  when  the  other  camra  answering  to 
it  is,  by  the  continued  rotation  of  the  axis,  brought  into 
action,  and  the  treadle  first  depressed  is,  at  the  same  moment, 
freed  from  the  pressure  of  the  first  mentioned  camm,  and 
thus  the  reciprocating  action  of  the  treadles  is  kept  up  con- 
tinually, so  long  as  the  axis  continues  to  revolve.  Each  en- 
tire revolution  of  the  axis  will,  therefore,  occasion  two  sepa- 
rations of  the  warp  by  the  alternate  action  of  the  two 
treadles. 

The  second  motion,  that  of  throwing  the  shuttle,  is  per- 


CHAP.  V. 


POWER- WEAVING 


221 


formed  by  two  other  camms,  which  are  likewise  reversed  to 
each  other  in  their  position  on  the  axis,  so  as  to  bring"  eacli 
one  into  operation  at  the  moment  the  other  is  set  free.  As 
the  shuttle  requires  to  be  thrown  across  the  warp  with  some 
velocity,  and  with  a  sudden  or  jerking  motion,  these  camms 
are  so  shaped  as  to  cause  each  to  strike  abruptly  upon  a 
lever,  and  to  hold  it  depressed  during  a  certain  portion  of  the 
revolution  of  the  axis;  quitting  it  again  as  suddenly  when 
the  corresponding  camm  is  brought  to  act  upon  a  correspond- 
ing lever  for  the  return  stroke  of  the  shuttle.  When,  by  the 
revolution  of  one  camm,  the  lever  beneath  it  is  depressed, 
this  lever  is  made  to  strike  with  increased  velocity  upon  a 
shorter  lever,  which  in  its  descent  carries  with  it  a  strap;  and 
this,  again,  acts  upon  the  segment  of  a  wheel  connected  with 
it.  This  wheel  has  fastened  to  it  a  long  stem  of  whalebone, 
which  is  made  to  snatch  the  string  of  the  driver,  and  to  impel 
the  latter  with  the  requisite  velocity  against  the  shuttle ;  so 
that  it  will  be  driven  out  of  the  trough  across  the  shuttle- 
race,  into  the  opposite  trough,  pushing  back  the  driver  therein 
to  a  position  proper  for  the  performance  of  the  return  stroke. 
By  this  time,  the  rotation  of  the  main  axis  has  caused  the 
necessary  change  in  the  position  of  the  warp  threads,  the 
second  camm  is  brought  into  action,  depresses  its  lever,  which 
again  strikes  upon  the  shorter  lever  ;  and  this,  by  acting  in  a 
reverse  direction  upon  the  segment  of  the  wheel,  and  conse- 
quently upon  the  whalebone  stem,  causes  this  latter  to  snatch 
the  string  of  the  driver,  and  by  its  means  drives  the  shuttle 
back  across  the  shuttle-race  into  the  trough. 

The  third  motion,  that  of  striking  the  lay  against  the 
shoot,  and  returning  it  to  a  position  proper  for  again  passing 
the  shuttle,  is  thus  performed: — The  shuttle-race,  reed, 
whalebone  stem,  and  its  segment  of  a  wheel,  all  form  part 
of  the  batten  frame,  which  is  made  to  vibrate  to  and  fro  on 
hinges  placed  at  its  lower  extremities.  This  frame  is  drawn 
backwards  by  straps,  which  are  rolled  upon  pulleys,  fixed 
upon  a  small  axis.  Upon  this  same  axis  are  fixed  two  other 
smaller  pulleys,  upon  which  other  straps  are  rolled  to  connect 
With  two  long  levers,  which  are  moved  during  the  revolutions 
of  the  main  axis  by  two  camms  arranged  for  this  purpose. 
These  long  levers  are  centred  between  the  short  posts  of  the 
frame  under  the  shuttle-race.  To  bring  forward  the  batten 
and  reed,  so  as  to  beat  up  the  shoot,  two  large  weights  like 
one  of  which  is  placed  at  each  side  of  the  loom,  are  suspend- 
ed by  straps  from  pulleys  on  a  horizontal  axis  which  carries 
two  wheels,  one  at  each  side  of  the  loom,  On  these  wheels 
T2 


222  SILK  MANUFACTURE^  PART  III. 

dther  straps  are  wound,  which  communicate  with  the  frame 
of  the  batten,  to  draw  it  forward.  These  weights  would  not, 
of  themselves,  act  with  sufficient  promptness  in  drawing  for- 
ward the  reed  when  the  loom  was  working  very  quickly,  and 
the  time  required  to  overcome  the  momentum  which  they  re- 
ceive by  the  backward  motion  of  the  batten  would  derange 
the  regularity  of  the  machine.  To  overcome,  therefore,  this 
momentum,  spiral  springs  are  connected  between  the  bottom 
part  of  the  weights  and  long  levers,  which  are  pressed  down 
at  the  proper  intervals  by  the  camms;  these  levers  being 
brought  into  action  before  the  return  of  the  long  levers  per- 
mits the  drawing  forward  of  the  batten.  The  springs  are 
distended  ;  the  momentum  of  the  weights  is  overcome ;  and 
they  are  ready  to  act  instantaneously,  by  their  own  gravity, 
assisted  by  the  energy  of  the  spiral  springs.  Thus  the  de- 
pression of  the  long  levers  by  the  camms  will  draw  back  the 
batten  from  the  shoot  twice  during  the  entire  revolution  of 
the  main  axis ;  and  the  gravitation  of  the  weights,  assisted  by 
the  springs,  must  bring  it  forward  during  every  interval.  The 
third  motion  is  then  completed. 

The  fourth  motion  is  that  of  winding  the  woven  cloth,  as  it 
is  finished,  upon  the  cloth-roll,  which  action  is  thus  effected  : 
— At  the  extreme  end  of  the  main  axis  is  fixed  a  crank,  or, 
an  eccentric  wheel  performing  the  office  of  a  crank  ;  by  the 
rotations  of  this,  a  small  rod  moves  up  and  down,  and  turns 
round  a  small  ratchet  wheel  to  the  extent  of  one  tooth  during 
each  revolution.  The  return  of  this  ratchet  is  prevented  by 
the  falling  of  a  click  into  the  teeth.  On  the  axis  of  the 
ratchet  wheel  is  an  endless  screw,  which,  engaging  the  teeth 
of  a  cog-wheel  fixed  upon  the  extremity  of  the  cloth-roll, 
gives  to  the  latter  a  slow  motion,  whereby  the  cloth  is  wound 
upon  it  with  due  regularity. 

The  remaining  parts  of  this  very  ingenious  piece  of 
mechanism  are  so  similar  both  in  their  form  and  office  to  like 
parts  in  the  hand-loom  which  have  been  explained,  that  par- 
ticularly to  notice  them  here  would  be  unnecessarily  to  load 
a  description  which  will  already,  perhaps,  be  thought  suffi- 
ciently complex. 

There  have  been  various  modifications  of  the  power-loom, 
and  several  contrivances  have,  at  various  times,  been  proposed 
with  the  view  of  rendering  it  more  simple  or  efficacious. 
Some  of  these  inventions  have  been  the  objects  of  patents ; 
but,  so  far  at  least  as  principle  is  concerned,  there  appears  to 
be  no  very  important  variation  among  them,  and  it  would  be 


cnAP. 


POWER- WE  A  V I XG . 


223 


of  little  advantage  to  enter  upon  the  examination  of  every 
trifling  difference  of  construction. 

Power-looms  which  are  to  be  worked  by  hand,  have,  on 
more  than  one  occasion  during  the  last  few  years,  been  offer- 
ed for  the  adoption  of  the  silk-weaver.  In  all  these  machines, 
the  various  movements  of  the  treadles,  shuttle,  and  batten, 
are  effected  in  their  regular  progressions  by  the  combination 
of  levers  and  springs  in  connexion  with  cranks  or  wheels. 

It  is  clear  that  the  loom  just  described,  and  of  which  a 
drawing  has  been  given,  is  capable  of  being  actuated  by 
manual  labor;  and  it  must  be  equally  evident  that  steam 
might  be  employed  as  the  motive  force,  if  it  were  desired  to 
employ  any  considerable  number  of  hand-power-looms  in  the 
same  building.  The  argument  is,  therefore,  fallacious, 
whereby  it  is  sought  to  recommend  these  latter  inventions  to 
the  prejudices  of  operative  weavers,  by  representing  the  looms 
as  being  more  in  accordance  with  the  interests  of  the  work- 
men. There  is,  in  fact,  no  difference  in  the  principle  upon 
which  both  descriptions  are  constructed  and  put  to  action. 

Perhaps  the  most  ingenious  of  these  machines  which  has 
yet  been  invented,  is  one  which  has  lately  been  made  the 
subject  of  a  patent  by  Mr.  Saddler,  of  Paddington.  It  would 
be  improper  to  describe  the  mechanical  arrangements  of  this 
production  with  minuteness,  as  all  the  formalities  connected 
with  the  specification  of  the  patents  are  not  yet  completed. 
The  inventor  proposes  to  construct  double  or  quadruple  looms, 
which,  while  the  working  parts  of  each  are  complete  in 
themselves,  are  yet  so  connected  together  by  a  strong  cast- 
iron  framing,  and  working  shafts,  that  the  moving  parts  of 
each  of  the  two  or  four  looms  will  be  simultaneously  and 
similarly  set  in  motion  by  the  oscillations  of  a  pendulum, 
which  is  to  be  swung  to  and  fro  by  the  hand.  In  this  man- 
ner, it  is  said,  on  the  authority  of  a  weaver  who  has  made 
the  attempt,  that  without  any  extra  exertion,  one  yard  of  silk 
fabric  of  a  medium  quality  may  be  woven  in  each  loom  in  an 
hour ;  so  that  a  workman,  during  the  ordinary  duration  of 
his  daily  labor,  may,  with  one  of  the  double  looms,  weave 
twenty-four  yards  of  silk ;  a  result  which,  if  it  can  be  practi- 
cally realized,  would  at  once  relieve  the  manufacturer  from 
all  apprehensions  connected  with  the  introduction  of  French 
manufactured  goods,  as  it  would  render  the  comparative  cost 
of  production  nearly  as  much  in  favor  of  the  English  manu- 
facturers as  it  is  now  against  them.  If  more  than  two  looms 
are  thus  worked  in  connexion  together,  the  weaver  would 
require  an  assistant  in  accomplishing  his  labors. 


224 


STLK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


It  is  by  no  means  certain  that  this  greater  facility  of  pro- 
duction would  prove  to  the  present  advantage  of  the  laboring 
weavers  ;•  on  the  contrary,  in  proportion  as  the  labor  can  be 
simplified,  a  lower  or  less  instructed  class  of  persons  will  be 
employed,  for  it  cannot  require  the  previous  preparation  of  a 
lengthened  apprenticeship  to  qualify  a  man  for  the  task  of 
swinging  a  pendulum.  Then,  too,  the  increased  quantity  of 
manufactured  goods  that  would  be  produced  by  each  laborer, 
would,  for  a  time  at  least,  occasion  the  employment  of  a  fewer 
number  of  weavers ;  and  although  the  lessened  cost  of  pro- 
duction would,  doubtless,  induce  the  consumption  of  a  larger 
quantity  of  goods,  and  thus  augment  the  demand  for  labor,  a 
considerable  time  would  be  required  for  the  proper  adjust- 
ment of  this  matter,  and  in  the  meanwhile  the  alteration 
would  bear  hardly  upon  the  present  race  of  weavers. 

Mr.  Saddler's  loom  is  a  substantial  machine,  constructed 
almost  wholly  of  cast-iron,  and  by  no  means  inelegant  in  its 
form :  it  occupies,  besides,  but  a  small  space.  However 
much  it  might  be  calculated  to  abridge  the  labor  or  add  to 
the  earnings  of  the  weavers,  still  it  is  to  be  feared  that  there 
are  but  few  among  them  who  could  compass  its  purchase, 
and  thus  avail  themselves  of  its  benefit. 

One  cause  which  weighs  materially  against  the  use  of 
power-looms  in  silk  weaving  is,  that  they  do  not,  as  is  the 
case  in  the  manufacture  of  goods  from  coarser  materials, 
save  any  great  proportion  of  labor.  In  weaving  linen  or  cot- 
ton fabrics,  one  man  may  be  competent  to  afford  the  needful  de- 
gree of  attention  to  several  power-looms  at  the  same  moment ; 
but  this  is  not  the  case  with  silk,  which,  from  its  delicacy  of 
texture,  is  continually  giving  way  and  requiring  repair  in 
some  part  or  other.  Then,  too,  an  important  amount  of  time 
and  labor  must  be  expended  in  removing  all  roughnesses  and 
inequalities  in  the  warp  threads,  or,  as  the  weavers  call  it,  in 
picking  the  porry,  during  which  the  actual  weaving  must  be 
suspended.  The  trifling  saving  in  the  amount  of  labor  which 
can  thus  be  realized  from  the  use  of  any  mechanical  appa- 
ratus, ceases  to  be  an  object  of  much  importance,  where  the 
value  of  the  raw  material  forms  the  principal  item  of  cost  in 
the  manufactured  articles ;  and  it  thence  becomes  very 
doubtful  whether  the  use  of  power-looms,  however  they  may 
be  modified,  is  susceptible  of  much  extension  in  any  save  the 
commonest  branches  of  the  silk  manufacture. 


CHAP.  VI. 


VELVET  WEAVING. 


225 


CHAP.  VI. 

VELVET  WEAVING. 

Its  first  introduction  into  England.  —  Chinese  Velvets.  —  Structure  of  Vel- 
vet.—  Process  of  weaving  it.  —  Improvement  therein.  —  Figured  Velvet. 
—  German  Velvet. 

Velvet  must  be  classed  among  the  richest  of  silken  fabrics. 
Although,  compared  with  the  date  when  the  more  simple 
silken  structures  were  first  known,  this  elegant  manufacture 
must  be  considered  as  of  modern  invention,  it  has,  neverthe- 
less, been  made  and  used  in  Europe  for  several  centuries.  Its 
production  was,  for  a  long  time,  confined  to  Italy,  where,  par- 
ticularly in  Florence,  Milan,  Venice,  Lucca,  and  Genoa,  it 
was  carrried  on  to  a  great  extent,  and  with  a  considerable 
degree  of  perfection.  When,  however,  the  French  manufac- 
turers took  up  this  branch  of  silk  weaving,  they  speedily  ex- 
celled their  instructors ;  and  it  was  from  the  refugees  of  that 
nation,  when  forced  to  abjure  their  country  by  the  revocation 
of  the  edict  of  Nantes  in  the  year  1685,  that  the  art  of  weav- 
ing velvet  became  known,  and  was  domesticated  in  Spital- 
fields,  where  it  has  since  continued,  and  has  been  followed 
with  success. 

The  same  cause  having  driven  another  portion  of  the 
French  Protestants  to  Holland,  occasioned  equally  in  that 
country  the  knowledge  and  prosecution  of  this  process.  At 
Haerlem,  especially,  a  very  considerable  establishment  was 
made  with  this  object ;  but  its  productions  were  never  brought 
successfully  to  rival  the  beauty  of  French  velvets,  which  con- 
tinued for  a  long  time  to  command  a  greater  price  in  foreign 
markets  than  those  of  any  other  country. 

The  Chinese  likewise  manufacture  velvets  ;  but,  if  we  are 
to  judge  from  the  specimens  which  have  been  imported  into 
Europe,  their  success  in  this  branch  has  been  but  very  mod- 
erate, the  quality  of  Chinese  velvet  being  far  inferior  to  even 
the  most  indifferent  of  European  production. 

This  very  beautiful  fabric  may  be  said  to  have  a  compound 
texture.  In  addition  to  the  warp  and  shoot,  of  which  the 
substance  of  plain  goods  is  formed,  velvet  has  a  soft  shag  or 
pile,  occasioned  by  the  insertion  of  short  pieces  of  silk 
thread  doubled  under  the  shoot,  and  which  stand  upright  on 
its  upper  surface,  in  such  a  multitude,  and  so  crowded  together, 
as  entirely  to  conceal  the  interlacings  of  the  warp  and  shoot. 
It  is  this  pile  which. gives  to  velvet  its  characteristic  a^y>« 


226 


SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PAHT  III. 


ance,  as  well  as  that  remarkable  softness  to  the  touch,  which 
distinguish  it  from  all  other  manufactured  substances,  and 
which,  while  it  would  be  difficult  to  explain  them  in  any 
intelligible  terms,  have  themselves  served  for  describing 
other  bodies  which  present  appearances  or  qualities  some- 
what similar  to  the  sight  and  feeling. 

The  beauty  of  velvet  results,  in  a  great  degree,  from  the 
uniform  evenness  of  its  pile ;  and  this,  of  course,  depends 
upon  the  perfect  equality  in  length  of  the  threads  whereof  it 
is  composed.  All  inequalities  of  this  kind  are  rendered  at 
once  apparent  to  the  eye,  detracting  materially  from  the  ele- 
gance and  value  of  the  goods ;  and  this  circumstance  calls 
for  more  than  the  ordinary  degree  of  carefulness  on  the  part 
of  the  weaver. 

The  pile,  or,  as  it  is  technically  but  corruptly  called  by 
the  weaver,  the  pole,  is,  of  course,  inserted  during  the  ope- 
ration of  weaving  the  warp  and  shoot ;  and  its  insertion  is 
thus  effected : — 

The  loom  being  prepared,  or  mounted,  as  for  the  weaving 
of  plain  silk,  another  set  of  threads  is  provided,  to  run  in  the 
same  direction  with  the  threads  of  the  warp.  The  two  sets 
of  threads  are  kept  effectually  disengaged  from  each  other, 
by  causing  those  which  are  to  form  the  pile  to  rise  diagonally 
from  the  breast-roll,  through  the  whole  extent  of  the  porry, 
that  is,  through  the  space  between  the  breast-roll  and  the 
yarn-roll  of  the  loom.  Over  the  last  of  these  is  placed  another 
roll ;  and  with  this  the  threads  of  the  pile  are  connected,  in 
the  same  manner  as  are  the  threads  of  the  warp  with  the 
yarn-roll,  and  the  delivery  of  the  pile  threads  from  this  roller 
is  governed  similarly  to  the  delivery  of  the  warp  threads,  by 
means  of  a  regulating  weight.  There  is  an  absolute  neces- 
sity for  keeping  the  warp  and  pile  distinct  and  independent 
of  each  other,  which  will  be  very  evident,  if  it  is  con- 
sidered that  the  lineal  quantity  of  the  latter  which  goes  to 
the  production  of  a  given  measure  of  velvet  must  be  very 
greatly  more  than  that  of  the  warp  threads.  In  point  of  fact, 
with  every  yard  of  velvet  that  is  produced,  six  yards  of  the 
pile  are  required  to  be  used. 

Fig.  26. 


The  above  diagram  exhibits  the  structure  of  velvet,  and 
the  mode  of  combining  the  threads  of  the  shoot  with  the  pile. 


CHAP.  VI. 


VELVET  WEAVING. 


227 


The  texture  is  shown  as  if  loosened,  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
playing the  various  parts  with  greater  distinctness,  a  a  are 
the  warp  threads,  and  the  dots  or  small  circles  which  occur 
in  the  loops  representing  the  woven  part,  are  sections  of  the 
threads  that  form  the  shoot;  b  shows  the  pile  threads,  which 
meet  the  threads  of  the  warp  in  the  angle  c.  Into  this  angle 
the  w7eaver  inserts  a  brass  wire,  so  that  it  occupies  a  position 
through  the  whole  breadth  of  the  goods,  below  the  pile 
threads  and  above  all  the  threads  of  the  warp;  wrhen  the 
treadles  being  put  into  action,  and  the  alternate  threads  of 
the  warp  raised,  the  shuttle  is  thrown,  passing  over  the  pile 
threads  and  the  depressed  half  of  the  warp;  the  batten  is 
then  struck  up  against  the  shoot,  thus  accomplishing  the  re- 
quisite interlacing  of  the  warp  and  shoot,  and  forming  a  loop 
of  the  pile  thread  over  the  wire.  This  wire  is  peculiarly 
formed,  having  one  of  its  sides  flattened,  and  a  groove  cut 
through  its  entire  length,  the  form  and  situation  of  which  are 
shown  by  the  following  section. 

j^.  9„  The  shuttle  is  thrown  three  times  between  each 
*f  h  insertion  of  the  wire :  the  first  shoot  is  of  coarser 
thread  than  that  which  is  used  for  the  other  two 

/- — ■  shoots,  and,  when  struck  up  by  the  batten,  causes 
the  wire  to  take  its  proper  position  wTith  the  flattened  side 
down,  and  its  sharper  edge  towards  the  cloth-roll,  d  d  show 
the  loops  thus  formed.  By  running  a  sharp  instrument  called 
a  trevat  along  the  groove  of  the  wire,  these  loops  are  then 
divided  in  the  manner  described  at  e  e,  and  the  whole  opera- 
tion of  velvet  weaving  has  been  effected.  It  is  necessary  to 
use  two  wires,  so  that  one  may  always  remain  in  the  cloth 
when  the  hinder  one  is  cut  out,  otherwise  the  pile  threads  in 
the  porry  would  be  set  at  liberty,  and  the  w7hole  operation 
deranged ;  but  by  keeping  one  wire  always  inserted  and  se- 
cured in  its  place  by  three  threads  of  shoot,  the  pile  is  suffi- 
ciently connected  with  the  texture  to  prevent  such  an  acci- 
dent. The  liberated  wire  is  now  again  inserted  ;  and  when  in 
its  turn  this  has  been  secured  by  three  casts  of  the  shoot,  the 
other  wire  is  cut  out,  and  so  on  alternately.  The  richest 
velvets  were  formerly  woven  with  thirty-eight  loops,  caused 
by  as  many  insertions  of  the  wires,  in  every  inch  ;  but  this 
branch  of  silk  manufacture,  encouraged  by  the  greatly  in- 
creased demand,  and  participating  in  the  general  improve- 
ment now  experienced,  as  many  as  fifty-five  insertions  of  the 
wires  are  made  in  the  small  space  just  mentioned. 

The  circumstance  above  mentioned,  of  the  employment  of 
threads  of  different  degrees  of  fineness  to  compose  the  shoot. 


228 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


renders  it,  of  course,  necessary  to  use  two  shuttles,  which 
must  be  exchanged  for  each  other  at  constantly  recurring 
but  unequal  intervals.  It  has  indeed  been  shown,  that  the 
weaver  of  velvet  requires  to  exercise  an  unintermitting  care- 
fulness in  the  succession  of  operations  which  he  has  to  con- 
duct. The  use  of  the  trevat  in  cutting  the  pile  calls  for  a 
certain  amount  of  skilful ness  or  sleight  of  hand,  only  to  be 
fully  acquired  through  care  and  after  long  practice,  while  the 
minutest  deviation  from  the  proper  line  in  performing  this 
part  of  the  process  would  infallibly  injure,  if  even  it  did  not 
destroy,  the  goods ;  and  the  movements  to  be  made  through- 
out the  entire  operation  are,  as  has  been  shown,  so  numerous, 
and  require  such  constant  changing  of  the  hand  from  one  ac- 
tion to  another,  that  the  weaver  is  greatly  and  unavoidably 
retarded  in  his  progress.  It  is  considered  to  amount  to  a 
very  good  day's  work,  when  as  much  as  one  yard  of  plain 
velvet  has  been  woven.  For  this  the  workman  is  usually 
paid  five  times  the  price  charged  for  weaving  gros-de-naples. 

The  warp  and  pile  of  velvet  are  both  composed  of  organ- 
zine  silk,  and  it  is  evident  that  its  richness  depends  upon  the 
relative  number  of  its  pile  threads  ;  the  manufacturers  are 
accordingly  accustomed  to  designate  velvets  of  different 
degrees  of  richness,  as  velvet  of  two,  four,  or  six  threads, 
according  to  the  number  of  pile  threads  which  are  inserted 
between  each  of  the  dents  of  the  reed. 

An  inferior  description  of  velvet  has  of  late  years  been 
composed  of  cotton.  One  of  the  principal  uses  to  which 
this  is  applied,  is  that  of  ornamenting  articles  of  household 
furniture,  such  as  window  hangings,  which  are  not  exposed 
to  close  inspection,  or  subjected  to  much  wear,  the  difference 
of  quality  between  it  and  silk  velvet  being  immediately  dis- 
cernible. 

Velvet  is  sometimes  woven  with  stripes  which  run  in  the 
direction  of  the  shoot,  and  which  are  produced,  at  regular 
intervals,  by  leaving  uncut  such  a  number  of  loops  of  the 
pile  as  are  sufficient  to  make  up  the  breadth  of  the  intended 
stripe.  The  wire  employed  for  forming  these  uncut  loops  is 
unlike  that  described,  being  of  a  simple  cylindrical  form :  the 
appearance  of  velvet  thus  woven  is  rich  and  pleasing. 

It  has  been  already  said  that  velvets  should  be  manufac- 
tured throughout,  warp,  shoot,  and  pile,  of  soft  organzined 
silk.  This  condition  is  not,  however,  always  adhered  to  by 
foreign  weavers  of  velvet ;  and,  in  particular,  some  goods 
have  been  brought  to  this  country  from  Germany,  the  pile  of 
which  is  composed  of  what  is  called  souplc,  which  is  silk 


CHAP.  VII. 


GAUZE  WEAVING. 


229 


dyed  in  the  gum.  By  the  employment  of  this  article,  which 
contains  an  admixture  of  foreign  matter,  a  less  quantity  of 
silk  is  made  to  suffice  in  forming  the  pile ;  but  it  is  evident 
that  the  apparent  richness  will  soon  disappear,  and  the  real 
inferiority  of  quality  attendant  upon  this  procedure  will  mani- 
fest itself  to  the  wearer  after  only  a  very  short  acquaintance 
with  his  purchase. 


CHAP.  VII. 

GAUZE  WEAVING. 

Its  Origin. — Structure. — Peculiarity  of  Arrangements  in  Weaving  it. — 
Mode  of  putting  these  in  Action. — Difficulty  of  the  Process. — Superiority 
of  the  French  in  Gauze  Weaving. — Accounted  for. 

Gauze  is  a  very  light  and  transparent  fabric.  The  ety- 
mology of  its  name  has  caused  it  to  be  conjectured  that  we 
are  indebted  for  its  invention  to  Gaza,  a  city  of  Palestine,  on 
the  frontiers  of  Egypt,  which,  although  now  of  only  small 
extent,  was  formerly  a  place  of  considerable  magnitude  and 
celebrity.  The  manufacture  of  silk  gauzes  was,  some  years 
ago,  very  extensively  prosecuted  in  the  district  of  Spitalfields, 
but  has  of  late  been  almost  wholly  discontinued  in  that  quar- 
ter, and  is  principally  transplanted  to  Paisley,  near  Glasgow, 
and  the  neighboring  villages  in  the  counties  of  Lanark  and 
Renfrew. 

The  particular  arrangements  used  in  the  production  of  this 
tasteful  fabric  are  known  among  the  craft  under  the  title  of 
cross- weaving.  In  all  the  species  of  interlacings  hitherto 
described,  whatever  the  order  of  succession  wherein  the  warp 
threads  may  be  alternately  raised  and  depressed,  they  always 
remain  parallel  to  each  other,  and  without  twisting  or  cross- 
ing ;  whereas  it  is  the  essential  character  of  gauze,  that  be- 
tween each  cast  of  the  shuttle  such  a  crossing  of  the  warp 
threads  shall  ensue,  as  while  it  admits  of  each  shoot  being  in 
its  turn  struck  up  by  the  batten  with  the  degree  of  force  ne- 
cessarily required  to  impart  to  it  stability  and  regularity,  yet 
prevents  its  being  carried  thereby  into  absolute  contact  with 
the  shoot  immediately  preceding ;  the  intervals  thus  left  be- 
tween the  interlacings  causing  that  degree  of  transparency, 
which,  without  these  crossings,  could  only  result  from  a 
looseness  of  texture  altogether  incompatible  with  beauty  and 
utility. 

In  the  following  diagram,  the  unshaded  cross  lines  must 


230 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


be  taken  to  represent  the  shoot,  while  the  twisted  lines, 
whereby  they  are  intersected  and  embraced,  are  descriptive 
of  the  warp  threads.  It  is  evident  that  the  twisting  thus 
given  must  effectually  prevent  the  too  close  approximating 
of  the  successive  shoots,  without  being  in  any  respect  incom- 
patible with  the  needful  regularity  of  their  positions,  or  with 
a  due  degree  of  stability.  The  diagram  is  necessarily  drawn 
upon  an  exaggerated  scale,  in  order  to  render  the  peculiarity 
of  the  fabric  at  once  apparent  upon  inspection. 

Fig.  28. 


To  produce  the  appearance  here  given,  it  is  not  necessary 
that  the  adjoining  warp  threads  should  be  actually  crossed  at 
each  casting  of  the  shuttle,  as  the  return  of  the  threads  from 
the  crossed  to  the  parallel  state  will  have  the  same  effect 
as  giving  a  reversed  crossing.  The  twistings  are  made  al- 
ternately to  the  right  and  the  left  hand ;  and  each  twist,  as 
it  is  produced,  is  kept  by  the  striking  up  of  the  shoot  with 
the  batten. 

It  would  not  be  possible,  within  the  necessary  limits,  and 
without  having  recourse  to  numerous  drawings,  to  commu- 
nicate with  sufficient  clearness  all  the  minutiae  of  arrange- 
ment upon  which  gauze  weaving  is  made  to  depend.  It  will, 
perhaps,  suffice  to  impart  a  general  idea  of  the  principle  upon 
which  it  is  conducted. 

The  mounting  of  a  gauze-loom  consists  of  four  heddles,  or 
leaves  of  heddles,  and  of  two  half  leaves.  In  order  to  produce 
the  twist  in  forming  the  shed,  the  warp  threads  do  not  rise 
and  sink  alternately,  or  at  regular  intervals,  as  in  plain  weav- 
ing or  in  twilling,  one  thread  being  always  raised,  and  the  other 
thread  as  constantly  depressed.  The  raised  thread  is  drawn 
through  the  third  leaf  of  heddles,  and  as  it  always  rises,  is 
not  taken  through  the  loop  of  the  heddle  or  the  mail,  but 
above  it,  through  what  the  weavers  usually  call  the  upper 
doup.  The  other  thread  is  drawn  through  the  fourth  leaf  of 
heddles,  and  because  it  always  sinks,  is  drawn  through  its 
under  doup.  One  of  the  two  half  leaves  is  hung  from  above,  , 


CHAP.  VIII. 


BROCADE,  DAMASK,  ETC. 


231 


and  the  other  is  attached  below.  That  from  above  passes 
through  the  lower  doup  of  one  standard  ;  and  the  other  half 
leaf,  which  is  attached  below,  passes  through  the  upper  doup 
of  the  second  standard.  The  raised  warp  thread  is  drawn 
through  the  under  half  leaf  connected  with  its  standard,  and 
the  other  thread  passes  through  the  upper  half  leaf  connect- 
ed with  its  standard.  The  alternate  crossings  of  the  warp 
threads  are  occasioned  by  the  action  of  the  half  leaves. 

The  heddles  and  standards  are  moved  by  two  treadles,  the 
depression  of  which  in  this  mode  of  weaving  calls  for  more 
than  the  ordinary  amount  of  exertion ;  especially  when  the 
weather  is  damp,  the  labor  is  so  much  increased  that  the 
weaver  can  make  only  slow  progress  with  his  work.  Another 
evil  attending  this  kind  of  weaving  is,  that  the  increased 
friction  to  which  the  silk  threads  are  subjected  occasions 
them  very  frequently  to  break — much  more  frequently  than 
in  any  other  kind  of  weaving — and  the  arrangements  render 
their  repair  a  much  more  troublesome  operation.  To  remedy 
this,  it  was  usual  formerly  to  pass  the  warp  threads  through 
the  eyes  of  glass  beads;  but  this  was  a  troublesome  and 
tedious  process,  and,  joined  to  the  difficulty  of  properly  con- 
fining the  beads,  has  induced  the  weavers  to  discontinue  their 
employment. 

Gauze  is  one  of  the  very  few  articles  of  silk  manufacture 
in  which  it  is  held  that  the  French  weavers  still  bear  away 
the  palm  from  ours ;  a  fact  which  is,  doubtless,  referrible  to 
the  lower  rate  of  wages  paid  on  the  other  side  of  the  Chan- 
nel. The  weight  of  silk  contained  in  a  yard  of  gauze  is 
very  trifling;  and  the  value  of  the  material  bears  a  much 
smaller  proportion  to  that  of  the  labor  consumed  in  its  con- 
version, than  is  borne  by  weightier  fabrics. 

CHAP.  VIII. 

BROCADE,  DAMASK,  ETC. 

Gold  and  Silver  Brocade.— Metallic  Threads.— Gilt  and  Silvered  Paper. — 
Damasquitte. — Machinery  employed  in  its  Production. — Method  of  re- 
storing Tarnished  Brocade.— Silk  Brocade. — Damask. — Its  Manufacture 
brought  to  England. — Mode  of  Manufacture.— Cafard  Damask. — Persian. 
— Sarsnet. — Gros-de -Naples.  —  Du  Cape. — Satin. — Crape.  —  Levantine.— 
Gros-des-Indes. — Watering. — Embossing,  Mixed  Goods.  —  Bombazins. — 
Poplins.— Lustres.— Shawls. 

The  highly  ornamented  and  rich  brocades  in  which  our 
great-grandmothers  used  to  find  such  delight  have  now  en- 


232 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


tirely  disappeared  from  use,  and,  indeed,  scarcely  exist  for  us, 
except  in  the  verses  of  our  poets  or  the  essays  of  satirists  of 
those  days.  It  would  be  useless,  therefore,  to  attempt  giving 
a  description  of  the  mode  of  manufacturing  articles  so  appa- 
rently consigned  to  oblivion,  if  it  were  not  for  the  probability 
that,  in  some  of  the  ceaseless  mutations  of  fashion,  these 
sumptuous  fabrics  may  yet  once  again  lay  claim  to  admiration 
in  our  drawing-rooms,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  less  substantial 
and  less  gaudy  finery  with  which  the  fickle  leaders  of  public 
taste  are  now  satisfied. 

In  ancient  times,  those  cloths  only  were  called  brocades 
which  were  woven,  both  in  the  warp  and  shoot,  with  gold  or 
silver  threads,  or  with  a  mixture  or  combination  of  both  these 
materials.  In  preparing  the  threads  for  manufacturing  gold 
brocade,  a  flattened  silver-gilt  wire  or  riband  was  spun  on 
silk  that  had  been  dyed,  to  resemble  as  nearly  as  possible  the 
color  of  the  metal ;  and  the  principal  excellence  in  the  art 
of  preparing  gold  threads  consisted  in  so  regulating  the  con- 
volutions of  the  metallic  covering  of  the  silk,  as  that  its 
edges  should  exactly  touch,  and  form,  as  it  were,  one  con- 
tinued casing,  without  either  interval  or  overlapping. 

At  the  time  when  the  weaving  of  these  golden  tissues  was 
encouraged  by  public  taste,  the  manufacture  of  the  threads, 
whence  they  were  produced,  had  arrived  at  a  high  degree  of 
excellence.  At  Milan  there  was  a  considerable  manufactory, 
in  which,  by  a  secret  process,  flatted  wire  was  made,  having 
only  one  side  covered  with  gilding.  Threads  of  an  inferior 
description  were  also  made,  chiefly  at  Nuremberg,  by  spin- 
ning gilt  copper  wire  upon  threads  of  either  flax  or  hemp ; 
and  the  Chinese,  still  more  economical,  used  slips  of  gilt 
paper,  which  they  twisted  upon  silk,  and  sometimes  even  in- 
troduced into  their  stuffs,  without  thus  giving  to  the  paper 
any  fibrous  support.  But  these  productions  could  have  boast- 
ed, at  best,  only  an  evanescent  beauty ;  and,  accordingly,  we 
learn  from  Du  Halde,  the  historian  of  China,  that  golden 
tissues  were  rarely  used  in  that  country,  except  for  tapestries, 
or  other  ornamental  substances,  which  were  but  little  ex- 
posed to  view,  and  could  be  effectually  protected  from  mois- 
ture. 

In  process  of  time,  silken  threads,  uncovered  with  metallic 
wires,  were  used  to  form  the  plain  ground  of  brocades,  upon 
which  gold  or  silver  flowers,  or  other  ornaments,  were 
raised ;  and  at  a  still  later  period,  Sauries  composed  entirely 
of  uncovered  silk,  provided  they  v?ere  adorned  and  worked 


CHAP.  VTII.  BROCADE,  DAMASK,  ETC. 


233 


with  flowers,  or  other  ornamental  figures,  equally  took  the 
name  of  brocades. 

There  was  a  very  considerable  and  flourishing  manufacture 
of  brocades  carried  on  during  the  thirteenth  century  in  Luc- 
ca ;  but,  in  the  year  1310,  by  the  insensate  tyranny  of  Cas- 
truccio  Castracani,  as  related  by  his  biographer,  the  cele- 
brated Machiavel,  the  artisans  thus  engaged  were  driven  from 
that  city  ;  and  300  of  these  retired  to  Venice,  where,  encour- 
aged by  the  offer  of  many  privileges,  they  recommenced 
their  manufacture.  For  a  considerable  time  after  this  the 
Venetian  manufacture  was  carried  on  with  the  raw  material 
brought  from  Sicily  and  the  Levant;  the  cultivation  of  the 
mulberry  tree,  and  the  breeding  of  silkworms,  not  having 
been  adopted  to  any  extent  in  that  quarter  earlier  than  the 
sixteenth  century. 

In  the  course  of  the  last  century,  the  Venetians  invented 
a  modification  of  brocade,  and  in  this  new  manufacture, 
which  they  called  "damasquitte,"  they  at  one  time  carried 
on  a  very  extensive  trade.  Although  these  stuffs  actually 
contained  not  more  than  half  the  quantity  of  gold  or  silver 
employed  in  making  brocade  according  to  the  usual  method, 
they  yet  looked  far  more  beautiful.  The  flatted  wires  were 
not  wound  so  close  together  on  the  silk  threads,  nor  were 
there  so  many  of  these  threads  used  in  the  weaving  ;  but  by 
passing  the  stuffs,  when  manufactured,  between  rollers,  to 
which  a  great  amount  of  pressure  was  given,  the  wire  threads 
were  partially  crushed,  so  as  to  cause  the  ornamental  pattern 
to  assume  the  appearance  of  one  unbroken  and  brilliant  plate 
of  gold  or  silver. 

The  process  whereby  this  degree  of  pressure  was  commu- 
nicated was  for  a  long  time  kept  carefully  enveloped  in  mys- 
tery by  the  Venetian  manufacturers.  The  advantage  derived 
by  the  state  of  Venice  from  this  manufacture  at  length  drew 
the  attention  and  excited  a  spirit  of  rivalry  on  the  part  of  the 
French  government,  who  engaged  the  celebrated  Monsieur 
Vaucanson  in  the  endeavor  to  contrive  machinery  for  pro- 
ducing similar  fabrics.  In  this  attempt  he  proved  successful ; 
and  we  are  indebted  to  the  published  memoirs  of  the  French 
Academy  for  the  year  1757  for  an  account  of  his  success, 
and  of  the  machinery  employed  by  him  in  the  manufacture 
at  Lyons. 

The  cloth  was  passed  between  rollers,  the  lower  one  of 
which  was  made  of  wood,  thirty-two  inches  in  length,  and 
fourteen  inches  in  diameter.  The  upper  roller  was  of  copper, 
thirty-six  inches  long,  and  eight  in  diameter ;  the  last  was 
U  2 


234 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


made  hollow,  and  it  was  open  at  one  end,  for  the  introduction 
of  iron  heaters.  Both  the  rollers  were  made,  as  nearly  as 
possible,  in  the  form  of  perfect  cylinders.  In  his  first  at- 
tempts to  work  with  these  rollers,  Monsieur  Vaucanson  found 
that  the  exerted  force  of  ten  men  was  barely  sufficient,  and 
that  for  only  a  short  time,  to  turn  them  with  force  enough 
properly  to  extend  the  plating  of  the  wire  threads ;  and,  by 
the  excessive  pressure  used,  the  collars  in  w7hich  the  axes  of 
the  rollers  turned  were  worn  so  fast,  and  to  such  a  degree, 
that  the  pressure  was  constantly  and  progressively  diminish- 
ing, so  that  a  piece  of  stuff  of  twelve  yards  had  the  gilding 
visibly  less  extended  on  the  last  than  on  the  first  yard,  and 
the  machine  was  constantly  subject  to  disarrangement.  It 
was  attempted  to  lessen  this  evil  by  screwing  up  the  rollers 
towards  each  other  during  the  progress  of  the  pressing  ;  but 
this  was  objectionable,  because,  for  every  turn  that  was  given 
to  the  tightening  screws,  a  mark  or  bar  invariably  appeared 
across  the  cloth.  To  lessen  the  wearing  away  of  the  bearing 
collars,  anti-friction  wheels  or  rollers  were  provided,  between 
which  the  axes  of  the  rollers  were  made  to  turn ;  but  this 
remedy  produced  an  evil  of  another  kind :  the  wooden  roller, 
which,  from  the  nature  of  its  material,  was  susceptible  of 
compression,  had  its  cylindrical  form  so  altered,  that  the  ef- 
fect upon  the  cloth  varied  in  every  part  of  the  revolution.  It 
was  in  vain  that  the  ingenious  inventor  made  trial  of  different 
kinds  of  wood  for  constructing  the  roller :  if  this  was  hard, 
it  invariably  split,  and  if  soft,  it  warped ;  so  that  of  twenty 
rollers  formed  from  different  kinds  of  wood  which  were  tried, 
not  one  continued  cylindrical  during  twenty-four  hours'  work. 

These  failures  induced  M.  Vaucanson  to  contrive  a  method 
of  forcing  the  rollers  together,  so  that  the  pressure  should 
always  accommodate  itself  to  any  inequalities  that  might 
occur  in  the  work,  or  in  the  bearings  of  the  machine.  The 
axis  of  the  copper  roller  was  made  to  turn,  as  already  men- 
tioned, between  anti-friction  rollers,  while  the  wooden  roller 
was  pressed  upwards  by  levers  placed  one  at  each  end.  Each 
of  these  levers  had  the  end  of  its  short  arm  supported  on  tho 
frame  of  the  machine,  and  the  long  arm  drawn  upwards  by 
an  iron  rod  which  communicated  with  the  short  arm  of  an* 
other  lever  placed  horizontally,  while  to  the  long  arm  of  this 
last-mentioned  lever  a  weight  was  hung,  and  these  levers 
were  so  proportioned,  as  that  when  the  weight  thus  employed 
was  only  of  thirty  pounds,  the  rollers  were  pressed  together 
with  a  force  equal  to  the  weight  of  between  17,000  and 
18,000  pounds,  which  was  found  to  be  the  force  required  and 


CHAP.  VIII.  BROCADE,  DAMASK,  ETC  235 

best  adapted  to  the  due  extension  of  the  plating.  By  this  ar- 
rangement, the  strength  of  four  men  was  found  to  be  more 
effectual  in  turning  the  rollers  than  that  of  ten  men  had 
proved  under  the  first  attempted  method ;  and  as,  the  same 
weight  acted  uniformly  during  the  entire  revolutions,  the 
pressure  was  always  equal,  even  although  the  wooden  roller 
should  have  varied  in  its  shape,  and  notwithstanding  any  in- 
equality that  might  occur  in  the  thickness  of  the  goods. 

Four  iron  bars  brought  to  a  red  heat  were  introduced 
within-side  of  the  copper  roller,  which  became  in  half  an 
hour  nearly  as  hot  as  the  utensil  commonly  employed  by 
laundresses  in  ironing  linen.  After  two,  or  at  the  most 
three  pieces  of  cloth  had  been  passed  through  the  rollers,  it 
became  necessary  to  change  the  wooden  one  for  a  fresh  roller 
of  the  same  material,  as  the  heat,  if  long  continued,  occa- 
sioned a  great  tendency  to  splitting.  The  degree  of  heat 
necessary  for  properly  extending  the  gilding,  although  it  im- 
proved the  brilliancy  of  white  and  yellow  silks,  was  highly 
injurious  to  fabrics  of  certain  other  colors,  and  particularly  to 
such  as  were  crimson  or  green.  The  only  remedy  for  this, 
and  indeed  it  did  not  amount  to  a  remedy,  but  was  only  a 
palliative,  was  to  pass  the  stuff  through  from  between  the 
rollers  with  the  greatest  possible  celerity.  M.  Vaucanson 
recommends,  that  on  the  removal  of  the  heated  wooden 
rollers,  they  should  immediately  be  wrapped  in  cloths,  and 
placed  in  an  atmosphere  from  which  they  may  acquire  mois- 
ture. 

Brocades,  into  the  composition  of  which  metals  were  ad- 
mitted, were  very  liable  to  become  tarnished :  when  this  had 
taken  place,  they  could  be  restored  to  all  their  original  lustre 
by  washing  them  with  a  soft  brush  dipped  in  warm  spirit  of 
wine.  This  appears  to  be  the  only  material  suitable  for  the 
purpose:  alkalis,  and  even  soap,  would  be  improper;  the 
former  as  they  would  injure  the  texture  of  the  silk,  and  both 
as  they  would  hurtfully  affect  certain  of  its  colors.  Some 
descriptions  of  powders  have  been  recommended  for  restoring 
the  faded  beauty  of  brocades,  but  however  fine  these  may  be 
ground,  and  however  carefully  they  may  be  used,  they  must 
jstill,  from  the  very  mode  of  their  operation,  scratch  the 
metal ;  and  this,  especially  with  goods  prepared  according  to 
the  last  described  process,  is  of  an  extreme  thinness,  so  as  to 
be  easily  worn  away,  when  of  course  the  whole  beauty  of  the 
fabric  would  be  destroyed. 

Brocades  of  silk  were,  at  the  commencement  of  the  last 
century,  exceedingly  admired  and  much  used  among  the  lux- 


236 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


urious  votaries  of  fashion  of  botli  sexes  in  England.  We  may 
learn  in  what  degree  this  finery  was  then  estimated,  by  con- 
sulting the  pages  of  Pope  and  Addison :  the  former  in  the 
second  canto  of  his  elegant  and  lively  satire,  "  The  Rape  of 
the  Lock ;"  and  the  latter  in  the  fifteenth  number  of  the 
Spectator,  where  it  is  stated  that,  among  the  fashionable 
ladies  of  that  period,  "a  furbelow  of  precious  stones,  a  hat 
buttoned  with  a  diamond,  a  brocade  waistcoat  or  petticoat, 
are  standing  topics  of  conversation ;  that  lace  and  ribands, 
silver  and  gold  galoons,  with  the  like  glittering  gewgaws, 
are  so  many  lures  to  women  of  weak  minds,  and  when  arti- 
ficially displayed,  are  able  to  fetch  down  the  most  airy  co- 
quette from  the  wildest  of  her  flights  and  rambles."  Fear- 
ing, perhaps,  lest  in  thus  censuring  his  fair  country-women 
for  a  foible  which  had  usually  been  considered  as  character- 
istic of  the  sex,  and  not  confined  to  any  particular  age  or 
country,  he  might  be  chargeable  with  an  unfair  severity,  the 
moralist  goes  on  to  relate  how  Camilla,  the  queen  of  the 
Volsci,  after  exhibiting  her  absence  of  all  feminine  softness 
by  placing  herself  at  the  head  of  an  army,  that  she  might 
assist  king  Turnus  in  his  war  against  JEneas ;  and  after  hav- 
ing, with  her  own  hand,  slain  numbers  of  the  enemy,  still  al- 
lowed all  the  woman  to  reveal  itself  in  this  particular:— 
"  She  unfortunately  cast  her  eye  upon  a  Trojan  wTho  wore  an 
embroidered  tunic,  a  beautiful  coat  of  mail,  with  a  mantle  of 
the  finest  purple.  4  A  golden  bow  hung  upon  his  shoulder, 
his  garment  was  buckled  with  a  golden  clasp,  and  his  head 
covered  with  a  helmet  of  *the  same  shining  metal.'  The 
Amazon  immediately  singled  out  this  well-dressed  warrior, 
being  seized  with  a  woman's  longing  for  the  pretty  trappings 
he  was  adorned  with  : — 

 totumque  incauta  per  agmen, 

Fcemineo  prsedee  et  spoliorum  ardebat  amore."* 

For  some  time  after  the  use  of  brocades  for  garments  had 
been  discontinued,  these  substantial  fabrics  continued  to  be 
employed  for  ornamental  articles  of  furniture  ;  and  as  late  as 
the  year  1788  some  very  elegant  pieces  were  woven  in  Spit- 
alfields,  to  be  used  as  chair-bottoms  in  Carlton  House.  These 
specimens  of  the  art  are  still  in  existence,  and  prove  that  the 
discontinuance  of  the  use  of  brocades  must  not  be  ascribed 
to  any  deficiency  of  ability  on  the  part  of  our  artisans,  who, 
on  that  occasion,  exhibited  a  degree  of  skilfulness  in  their 


*  JEn.  lib.  xi.  781. 


CHAP.  VUI.  BROCADE,  DAMASK,  ETC.  237 

labors  fully  equal  to  any  shown  by  earlier  and  similar  pro- 
ductions. 


Silk  damask  was  formerly  extensively  used  both  for  gar- 
ments and  ornamental  furniture.  Applied  to  the  latter  use, 
this  manufacture  is  still  frequently  met  with  in  the  dwellings 
of  the  opulent ;  and  it  is  probable  that  some  of  the  deposi- 
tories of  our  carefal  dowagers  might  yet  be  made  to  reveal 
habiliments  which  have  been  displayed  at  levees  and  draw- 
ing-rooms, exciting  the  envy  and  admiration  of  our  progeni- 
tors. 

While  we  cannot  but  wonder  at  the  taste  which  influenced 
the  worshippers  of  fashion  in  the  olden  days  to  incase  and 
conceal  their  figures  beneath  the  formal  folds  of  such  unyield- 
ing fabrics,  we  do  not  reflect  upon  the  probability  that  our 
most  elegant  costumes  may,  in  their  turn,  become  the  objects 
of  surprise  and  derision  to  our  great-grandchildren,  and  that 
even  the  graceful  draperies  of  Lawrence  may  in  their  eyes 
appear  as  formal  and  grotesque  as  are  the  once-admired  ves- 
tures of  Sir  Peter  Lely  to  our  own. 

It  has  been  supposed,  and  the  etymology  of  its  name  would 
seem  to  favor  the  supposition,  that  this  branch  of  the  weaving 
art  was  originally  brought  to  the  westward  from  Damascus. 
It  has  been  very  long  followed  both  in  France  and  Italy, 
while  its  introduction  to  the  looms  of  England  appears  to 
have  taken  place  at  a  very  early  period  of  the  annals  of  our 
silk  manufacture ;  and  is  said  to  have  been  occasioned  by  the 
flig-ht  to  these  hospitable  shores  of  certain  Dutch  and  Flemish 
weavers  from  the  persecutions  of  the  duke  of  Alva,  when,  in 
the  year  1567,  he  was  deputed  by  Philip  It  of  Spain  to  ex- 
tinguish the  kindling  spark  of  liberty  in  the  Low  Countries ; 
affording  thus  another  historical  evidence  of  the  beneficial 
influence  upon  society,  of  circumstances  which,  at  the  time 
of  their  occurrence,  appeared  to  be  fraught  with  unmixed 
and  unmitigated  evil. 

The  expensive  nature  of  this  manufacture  caused  it  to  be 
principally  confined  to  the  use  of  the  high-born  and  wealthy 
of  the  land ;  but  on  occasions  of  great  ceremony  people  in 
the  more  middling  walk  of  life  could  still  display  silk  damask 
garments,  which  during  the  interval  of  these  occasions  were 
carefully  preserved,  so  that  they  were  frequently  handed 
down  from  one  generation  to  another  as  heir-looms  of  the 
family.  Silk  damask  never,  in  fact,  became  of  common  use ; 
and  when,  a  full  century  after  the  first  introduction  of  its 
manufacture  to  this  country,  our  celebrated  Locke  published 


238 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


part  in. 


his  "  Considerations  on  lowering  the  Interest  and  raising  the 
Value  of  Money,"  we  find  that  he  noticed  this  as  an  article 
of  almost  unwarrantable  luxury. 

When  wrought  with  a  great  variety  of  colors,  damask 
furniture  had  certainly  a  very  elegant  effect ;  but  it  has  not 
for  a  long  time  been  usual  to  employ  more  than  one  color  in 
damask  hangings,  and  their  elegance  now  consists  wholly  in 
the  richness  of  the  material,  and  the  taste  displayed  in  the 
pattern. 

Damask  is  a  twilled  fabric ;  the  appearance  of  its  texture 
is  familiar  to  all,  from  its  identity  with  that  of  the  beautiful 
linen  table  services,  the  manufacture  of  which  has  long  been 
carried  on  to  a  great  extent  in  Scotland,  and  more  recently 
on  a  smaller  scale  in  Ireland.  The  weaving  of  these  calls 
into  exercise  all  the  skilfulness  of  the  weaver  in  mounting 
his  loom,  to  the  great  labor  attending  which  is,  in  a  great 
measure,  owing  the  expensiveness  of  the  manufacture. 
The  designs,  which  are  frequently  very  extensive,  compris- 
ing upwards  of  1200  changes  for  their  completion,  are  laid 
off  upon  paper  lined  into  very  small  squares,  in  a  manner  al- 
ready described,  and  this  serves  as  a  guide  in  mounting  the 
loom.  To  present  such  a  description  as  would  be  intelligible 
and  satisfactory,  of  this  art  of  designing  and  mounting  in  the 
draw-loom  the  elaborate  patterns  which  are  so  generally  met 
with  in  damask  table-cloths,  would  require  more  space  than 
can  well  be  allotted  here  to  an  object  which,  as  regards  the 
particular  subject  of  this  work,  is  of  very  minor  considera- 
tion, and  which  applies  more  importantly  to  the  manufacture 
of  linen  than  of  silken  fabrics. 

The  French  had  long  since  a  manufacture  in  imitation  of 
the  old-fashioned  silk  damask,  which  they  called  Cafard 
(counterfeit)  damask :  this,  while  it  had  its  warp  composed 
of  silk,  had  the  shoot  of  either  thread,  wool,  or  cotton,  and 
sometimes  even  of  hair.  These  stuffs  were  not  without  a 
considerable  degree  of  beauty  ;  and  a  similar  mixture  of  ma- 
terials is  generally  employed  in  the  damask  hangings  which 
are  manufactured  in  the  present  day. 

There  are  several  descriptions  of  silk  goods,  or,  to  speak 
more  correctly,  several  modifications  of  the  same  class,  which 
are  each  known  popularly  by  distinctive  names,  but  which 
yet  require  no  particular  description.  Thus  the  plainest 
mode  of  silk-weaving  takes  the  name  of  Persian,  sarsnet, 
gros-de-naples,  ducapes,  &c,  varying  only  in  the  thickness 
of  the  fabric,  or  the  quality  of  the  material  of  which  it  is 


CHAP.  VIII.         BROCADE,  DAMASK,  ETC. 


239 


composed,  and  not  at  all  differing  in  the  arrangements  of  its 
interlacings. 

The  quality  first  mentioned  is  exceedingly  flimsy  in  its 
texture,  and  has  of  late  nearly  gone  out  of  use,  its  place  be- 
ing taken  by  the  description  next  in  quality,  sarsnet.  This, 
which  used  to  form  the  substance  of  garments,  is  now  most 
usually  employed  for  lining  them,  giving  place  in  its  turn,  as 
regards  its  former  more  dignified  uses,  to  gros-de-naples. 
This  last  is  made  of  stouter  and  harder  thrown  organzine 
silk,  and  is  put  together  with  more  care  and  labor,  containing 
a  greater  number  of  threads,  both  warp  and  shoot,  in  a  given 
surface.  Ducapes  are  likewise  plain- wove  stout  silks,  but  of 
softer  texture  than  the  last. 


Satin  is  a  twill  of  a  peculiar  description :  the  soft  and  lus- 
trous face  which  it  exhibits  is  given  by  keeping  always  a 
very  large  proportion,  frequently  even  as  much  as  seven  out 
of  every  eight  threads  of  the  warp,  visible,  or  as  it  is  called, 
floating  above  the  shoot.  Satin  is  always  woven  with  the 
face  downwards,  the  labor  of  the  weaver  being  thereby 
abridged,  because  it  is  easier  to  raise  the  harness  connected 
with  one  eighth,  than  it  would  be  to  raise  seven  eighths  of 
the  warp  with  every  cast  of  the  shuttle. 

It  can  hardly  be  necessary,  after  the  particular  description 
already  given  of  the  mode  of  producing  twilled  silks  in  gene- 
ral, to  repeat  any  part  of  it  here,  by  entering  into  the  minutise 
of  satin-weaving.  It  is  plain  that  every  peculiarity  attend- 
ant upon  this  falls  within  the  compass  of  the  Jacquard  ma- 
chine, by  means  of  which  figured  satins  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful textures  and  patterns  may  be  manufactured. 

When  satins  are  first  taken  out  of  the  loom,  they  exhibit  a 
certain  degree  of  roughness  or  flossiness,  owing  to  the  com- 
parative infrequency  of  the  interlacings  of  the  shoot  with 
the  warp.  To  remedy  this,  they  are  dressed  by  being  rolled 
on  heated  cylinders ;  which  operation  smooths  down  the  face 
of  the  goods,  and  imparts,  at  the  same  time,  that  beautiful 
lustre  which  is  so  attractive. 

Satins  from  China  are  much  esteemed  for  the  quality  they 
possess  of  being  easily  cleaned  and  bleached,  when  they  re- 
sume all  their  original  lustre ;  but  in  other  respects  they  are 
found  to  be  inferior  to  those  manufactured  in  Europe.  Satins 
of  the  higher  qualities  have  long  been  manufactured  in  Spit- 
alfields,  for  the  supply  of  our  eastern  dependencies. 


240  SILK  MANUFACTURE*  I>ART  Ills 

Crape  is  a  light  and  transparent  article  of*  plain  weaving  5 
it  is  made  with  hard  silk  of  the  natural  color,  and  the  peculiar 
appearance  which  it  is  made  to  put  on  is  given  to  it  in  the 
operations  of  dying  and  dressing  after  it  quits  the  loom ;  & 
further  quantity  of  gum  being  then  added  to  the  silk,  the 
threads  are  impelled,  by  the  stiffness  thus  acquired,  to  un- 
wreathe  the  twist  which  had  been  given  to  them  in  the  mill, 
and  hence  the  apparent  irregularity  of  texture  assumed  by 
crape.  This  may  be  easily  proved  by  washing  it  in  water 
hot  enough  to  discharge  the  gum ;  the  fabric  will  then  assume 
an  appearance  very  similar  to  that  of  gauze.  The  warp  of 
crape  is  usually  composed  of  singles  ;  the  shoot  is  frequently 
formed  of  the  same  material ;  and  sometimes,  when  it  is 
wished  to  make  it  of  closer  texture,  of  two-thread  tram,  the 
two  threads,  by  partially  untwisting,  then  give  a  more  crink- 
led and  intricate  appearance  to  the  cloth. 

Crape,  from  its  sombre  appearance,  has  always  been  con- 
sidered as  adapted  to  mourning  vestments.  Different  manu- 
facturers affect  a  degree  of  mystery  with  regard  to  their 
peculiar  modes  of  dressing  crape,  possessing  or  imagining 
thence  some  superiority  over  their  rivals  in  the  manufacture* 


Many  of  the  numerous  titles  by  which  silken  fabrics  are 
known  denote  such  minute  distinctions  that  it  would  be  both 
tedious  and  useless  to  offer  any  particular  descriptions  con- 
cerning tbem.  Every  variation  in  the  order  of  succession 
in  the  harness  used  in  weaving,  or,  as  it  is  termed  in  the 
weavers'  language,  every  different  tie,  produces  a  different 
pattern,  which  is  thought  deserving  of  a  distinctive  name. 
Most  of  the  fabrics  more  generally  used  have  already  been 
described ;  and  when  it  has  further  been  explained  that  lev- 
antine  is  a  stout,  close-made,  and  twilled  silk,  and  that  gros- 
des-indes  is  formed  by  using  different  shuttles  with  threads  of 
various  substances  for  the  shoot,  whereby  a  stripe  is  formed 
transversely  to  the  length  of  the  goods,  there  then  appears1 
to  be  nothing  more  required  under  that  head  of  information^ 

The  process  which  is  called  watering  silk,  and  which  gives 
to  its  surface  a  peculiar  and  unequal  wavy  appearance,  is  ef- 
fected by  placing  together,  lengthwise,  one  on  the  other,  two> 
pieces  of  silk,  and  passing  them,  thus  circumstanced,  be- 
tween two  cylindrical  metal  rollers,  one  of  which  is  made 
hollow  for  the  purpose  of  containing  a  heated  iron  in  its  cav~ 
ity.  Smooth  and  even  as  the  surface  and  texture  of  the 
woven  fabric  appear  to  our  imperfect  vision,  it  has  in  reality 
many  thicknesses  and  as  many  inequalities  as  there  are  cross- 


CIIAI*.  VIII.         BROCADE,  DAMASK,  ETC. 


241 


ings  of  the  warp  and  shoot.  These  inequalities  are  not 
brought  to  coincide  in  the  two  pieces  of  silk  when  they  are 
placed  together,  so  that  such  portion  of  the  face  of  each  as 
is  thereby  subject  to  severer  pressure  will  receive  a  greater 
gloss  or  polish  than  other  portions,  and  the  wavy  appearance 
results  entirely  from  this  unequal  degree  of  pressure.  The 
appearance  here  described  is  sometimes  produced  when  it  is 
not  wished  to  do  so,  and  is  the  result  of  an  unequal  pressure 
used  in  winding  the  woven  silk  upon  the  breast  roll  of  the 
loom.  The  only  means  of  preventing  this  accident  is  by 
using  a  proper  degree  of  carefulness  in  rolling  the  silk. 

The  surfaces  of  plain  silk  goods,  and  particularly  of 
ribands,  are  sometimes  embossed,  so  that  very  elegant  pat- 
terns are  produced  upon  them.  This  operation  is  likewise 
performed  by  passing  the  silk  between  rollers,  the  surfaces 
of  which  contain  the  pattern  which  it  is  intended  to  produce. 
In  one  of  the  cylinders  the  pattern  is  sunk,  and  in  the  other 
raised,  so  that  the  eminences  of  one  coincide  exactly  with 
the  cavities  of  the  other  cylinder.  This  process  has  of  late 
been  very  extensively  employed  for  ornamenting  waistcoat 
patterns,  producing  a  very  rich  and  tasteful  appearance ;  but 
it  can  be  more  appropriately  applied  to  ribands  or  other  fab- 
rics which  are  not  much  exposed  to  friction ;  the  inequalities 
of  surface  are  otherwise  found  to  be  unfavorable  to  the  dura- 
bility of  the  material. 


In  addition  to  the  fabrics  woven  of  silk  alone,  there  are 
other  goods  into  the  composition  of  which  this  beautiful  ma- 
terial is  made  partially  to  enter,  and  which,  in  legal  phrase- 
ology, are  denominated  mixed  goods.  The  most  common  of 
these  is  bombasin,  which  is  a  twilled  manufacture,  having  its 
warp  of  silk  and  its  shoot  of  worsted. 

The  use  of  this  article  was  at  one  time  restricted  to  the 
making  of  mourning  garments;  but  at  a  later  period,  no 
longer  condemned,  like  the  gondolas  of  Venice,  to  wear 
alone  the  sable  hue  of  night,  bombasins  appeared  in  colors  as 
gay  and  as  various  as  the  Protean  wand  of  fashion  could  call 
forth.  Their  manufacture,  which  once  employed  a  vast 
number  of  looms  in  Spitalfields,  has  for  some  time  been  al- 
most wholly  confined  to  the  city  of  Norwich.  Bombasins 
are  all  woven  gray,  that  is,  with  silk  of  the  natural  color, 
and  they  are  dyed  in  the  piece  after  being  taken  from  the 
loom. 

Poplins  and  lustres  are  likewise  composed  partly  of  silk 
and  partly  of  worsted,  with  a  somewhat  larger  proportion  of 


242 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  III. 


the  former  material  than  enters  into  the  composition  of  bom- 
basin  :  they  are  plain  woven  goods.  Poplins  were  manufac- 
tured of  exceedingly  fine  qualities  in  Dublin,  which  city  had 
formerly  a  very  favorable  trade  in  them,  but  both  these  arti- 
cles have  now  nearly  gone  out  of  use. 

Norwich  has  long  been  celebrated  for  its  manufacture  of 
shawls,  wherein  silk  forms  a  part  in  combination  with  either 
cotton  or  worsted:  it  is  only  of  late  years,  however,  that 
these  manufactures  have  attained  to  the  high  degree  of  ex- 
cellence which  now  characterizes  them,  or  that  they  have 
been  brought  in  respect  to  price  so  completely  within  the 
reach  of  the  more  humble  ranks.  It  is  to  these  coinciding 
merits  of  beauty  and  cheapness  that  the  shawls  of  Norwich 
owe  their  general  introduction  into  foreign  countries.  It 
may  indeed  be  said,  with  reference  to  these  mixed  goods  gene- 
rally, that  our  country  stands  in  every  way  without  a  rival. 


PART  IV. 


PROPERTIES  OF  SILK. 


243 


PART  IV. 

CHEMICAL,  MEDICAL,  AND  ELECTRIC  PROPERTIES  OF  SILK. 

Coloring  Matter  of  the  Cocoon — Manner  of  Bleaching  Silk  proposed  by 
Baume— English  Method  of  Bleaching. — 11  The  Bitter  Principle." — Va- 
rious Chemical  Experiments. — Guttae  Anglicans. — Silk  a  Protection 
against  Malaria. — Formerly  used  as  a  Medicine. — Its  Electric  Properties. 
— How  first  discovered. — Various  Experiments  detailed. 

The  coloring  matter,  which  more  or  less  tinges  silk  with 
a  golden  hue,  resides  in  the  gum  which  the  silkworm  pro- 
duces in  such  abundance  with  the  filament,  and  which  exer- 
cises so  important  an  agency  in  facilitating  all  the  prelimi- 
nary processes  of  its  manufacture. 

If  the  cocoons  be  immersed  in  hot  water,  a  portion  of  this 
gummy  or  resinous  substance  will  be  dissolved,  and  will  im- 
part to  the  water  a  light  amber  color.  If  alcohol  be  employed 
as  the  solvent,  a  much  larger  portion  of  this  matter  will  be 
extracted  from  the  silk,  and  a  tincture  formed,  which  will 
retain  its  color  even  after  it  has  been  exposed  to  the  rays  of 
the  sun  for  a  much  longer  time  than  would  suffice  to  bleach 
the  silk  itself. 

The  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  this  coloring  matter  has  a 
greater  affinity  for  alcohol  than  for  water  led  Mons.  Baume  to 
adopt  the  following  process  for  bleaching  silk  : — 

A  stone- ware  vessel,  of  a  nearly  conical  form,  and  capable 
of  holding  about  twelve  gallons,  was  provided,  having  a  large 
opening  at  the  top,  and  a  smaller  one,  about  an  inch  in  diam- 
eter, at  the  bottom.  Vessels  made  of  common  pottery-ware 
could  not  be  used  for  the  purpose,  as  they  would  speedily 
have  been  rendered  unserviceable  by  the  acid  employed  in 
the  bleaching.  From  the  same  cause,  the  stone-ware  even 
proved  to  be  not  very  durable.  All  roughnesses  on  the  inside 
surface  of  the  vessel,  which  could  have  broken  the  threads  of 
silk,  were  carefully  rubbed  down  with  pumice-stone.  The 
small  aperture  at  bottom  was  closed  by  a  cork,  through  the 
centre  of  which  a  glass  tube,  of  a  quarter  of  an  inch  diameter, 
was  passed,  and,  except  at  the  time  when  it  was  required  to 
draw  off  the  liquid  contents  of  the  vessel,  this  tube  also  was 
kept  closed  by  a  cork. 

Six  pounds  of  yellow  raw  silk  were  then  disposed  in  the 
stone-ware  vessel,  and  upon  this  was  poured  a  mixture  pre- 
viously made  of  forty-eight  pounds  of  alcohol  (specific  gravity 
0*867,)  with  twelve  ounces  of  very  pure  muriatic  acid  (spe- 


244 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  IV. 


cific  gravity  1*114.)  The  vessel  was  then  completely 
closed,  and  the  whole  was  left  in  digestion  until  the  liquor, 
which  at  first  assumed  a  green  color,  passed  to  that  of  a 
dusky  brown :  this  usually  happened  in  the  course  of  twenty- 
four  hours.  The  acidulated  spirit  was  then  drawn  off  by 
means  of  the  glass  tube,  and  clean  spirit  of  wine  was  poured 
continually  over  the  silk,  until  the  liquid  passed  off  perfectly 
colorless.  The  silk  was  then  left  to  drain  without  being 
otherwise  disturbed.  A  mixture  of  the  same  quantity  of 
spirit  with  muriatic  acid  was  then  again  poured  upon  the  silk, 
which,  after  being  exposed  to  its  action  for  a  period  some- 
what longer  than  the  first  digestion,  proved  to  be  perfectly 
and  brilliantly  white.  The  time  required  for  this  second  ap- 
plication of  acidulated  spirit  was  of  less  or  greater  duration, 
according  to  the  temperature,  and  the  original  quality  of  the 
silk.  Baume  found  that  the  bleaching  was  much  more 
readily  accomplished  when  the  cocoons  had  not  been  pre- 
viously baked,  for  the  destruction  of  the  chrysalides.  The 
second  dose  of  liquid  was  but  slightly  tinged  when  drawn 
off ;  and  if  another  portion  of  acid,  equal  to  half  the  quantity 
originally  used,  were  added  to  it,  the  mixture  could  properly 
be  used  for  the  first  digestion  of  a  second  quantity  of  the  raw 
material. 

A  further  washing  of  the  silk  then  ensued,  by  pouring 
upon  it  forty-eight  pounds  of  pure  unacidulated  spirit  of  wine, 
which  was  drawn  oft'  in  the  course  of  the  following  day. 

To  recover  the  quantity  of  spirit  absorbed  by  the  silk,  and 
which  was  equal  to  its  own  weight,  small  quantities  of  water 
were  sprinkled  over  it  from  time  to  time,  and  this  process 
was  continued  until  the  liquid,  which  drained  off  through  the 
glass  tube,  had  no  perceptible  strength.  Notwithstanding 
these  repeated  washings,  the  silk  still  retained  a  portion  of 
muriatic  acid,  which  made  it  harsh  to  the  touch,  and  if  left  in 
it,  would,  after  a  time,  have  injured  its  fibre :  it  was  there- 
fore placed  in  a  coarse  woollen  bag ;  and  this,  being  inclosed 
in  a  basket,  was  left  for  several  hours  in  a  stream  of  running 
water,  which  effectually  washed  out  the  acid. 

Pieces  of  manufactured  silk,  and  even  made-up  garments, 
have  been  successfully  bleached  by.  this  process. 

The  spirit  may  be  recovered  by  saturating  the  mingled 
acid  with  potass,  or  lime,  and  then  distilling  the  spirit  in  a 
copper  alembic.  Mons.  Baume  says  that  silk  may  be  thus 
made  to  rival  or  even  to  surpass  in  whiteness  and  lustre  the 
finest  specimens  from  Nankin.* 

*  Ure's  Dictionary  of  Chemistry,  art.  Bleaching.  Annates  tie  Chimie, 
tome  xvii, 


PART  IV. 


PROPERTIES  OF  SILK. 


245 


The  revenue  regulations,  and  the  clearness  of  spirit,  make 
the  above  process  impracticable  in  England,  where  the  usual 
method  of  bleaching  raw  silk  is  to  immerse  it  in  a  boiling  so- 
lution of  good  soap  in  water.  After  boiling  for  two  or  three 
hours  the  silk  is  taken  out,  beaten,  and  then  rinsed  in  cold 
water  ;  when  this  has  been  sufficiently  performed,  it  is 
slightly  wrung,  then  put  into  cold  soap  and  water,  tinged 
with  a  minute  portion  of  indigo,  and  again  boiled.  On  re- 
moving the  silk  from  this  second  water,  it  is  wrung  as  dry 
as  possible  with  the  assistance  of  wooden  pegs,  and  is  then 
well  shaken  to  separate  the  threads  :  after  this  it  is  suspended 
in  a  kind  of  stove  constructed  for  the  purpose,  which  contains 
sulphur  in  a  state  of  combustion  ;  the  fumes  arising  from  this 
give  the  last  degree  of  whiteness  to  the  silk,  and  the  process 
is  completed. 

Silk  is  powerfully  acted  upon  by  nitric  acid.  If  two 
drachms  of  this  acid  are  mixed  with  a  pint  of  alcohol,  and 
silk,  either  raw  or  bleached,  be  immersed  in  it,  and  kept  in 
digestion  exposed  to  a  moderate  heat  for  twenty-four  hours, 
the  silk  becomes  of  a  dull  yellowish  brown,  which,  after  it  has 
been  washed  with  soap,  rinsed,  and  dried,  turns  to  a  fine 
golden  yellow  color,  which  is  very  permanent.  Concen- 
trated nitric  acid  being  distilled  off  silk,  and  the  remaining 
liquor  partially  evaporated,  oxalic  acid  is  obtained :  if  the 
evaporation  be  pursued  still  farther,  the  residue  will  yield, 
together  with  a  small  portion  more  of  oxalic  acid,  a  quantity 
of  yellow  crystals,  not  in  the  slightest  degree  acid,  but  in- 
tensely bitter,  and  which  stain  the  skin  of  a  deep  yellow  co- 
lor, not  easily  removed.  This  curious  substance  was  discov- 
ered by  Welter,  and  was  called  by  him  "the  bitter  principle." 
He  supposed  that  its  production  always  results  from  the  ac- 
tion of  nitric  acid  on  animal  matter.  These  crystals,  when 
examined  through  a  magnifying  glass,  appear  to  be  composed 
of  truncated  octohedrons. 

If  the  remaining  liquor  be  previously  saturated  with  pot- 
ass and  evaporated,  another  yellow  silky  salt  separates, 
which  detonates  on  burning  coals  like  nitre,  and  appears  to 
be  a  triple  combination  of  the  before-mentioned  bitter  sub- 
stance with  nitrate  of  potass. 

The  water  v/herein  the  cocoons  are  placed  to  prepare 
them  for  reeling,  quickly  acquires  from  them  so  much  of  the 
resinous  matter  as  to  be  more  viscid  than  the  strongest  soap 
lather.  Chappe  found  that  he  could  inflate  this  water  into 
bubbles  or  small  balloons,  which  were  far  more  permanent 
than  any  formed  of  soap  and  water,  and  which  equally  ex- 
V2 


246 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  IV. 


hibited  the  prismatic  colors.  The  texture  of  these  bladders 
was  so  tenacious,  as  to  render  them  impervious  to  the  most 
subtle  gas:  Chappe  filled  several  of  them,  whose  diameter 
did  not  exceed  three  inches,  with  hydrogen  gas,  and  the  little 
air  balloons  remained  unbroken  and  floating  in  his  apartment 
for  considerably  more  than  twenty-four  hours.  All  cocoons 
are  not  sufficiently  glutinous  for  this  purpose;  with  those 
which  are  of  a  very  deep  yellow,  the  experiment  will  not 
succeed  ;  such  are  supposed  to  be  produced  by  the  worm  in  a 
peculiar  state  of  disease,  which  state  is  yet  by  no  means  un- 
common. 

According  to  Westrum,  silk,  when  acted  upon  by  chlorine, 
either  in  the  gaseous  form  or  diluted  in  water,  instead  of 
being  bleached,  as  cotton  or  linen  would  be,  always  becomes 
of  a  yellow  color,  and  loses  part  of  its  solidity.  The  caustic 
alkalis  corrode  and  dissolve  silk,  which  gives  by  distillation 
the  results  usual  with  animal  substances. 

Neuman  found  that  but  two  materials  afforded  an  equal 
quantity  of  volatile  alkali.  Tournefort  observes  that  it  con- 
tains more  than  hartshorn,  as  he  obtained  from  fifteen  ounces 
of  silk  two  drachms  of  volatile  salt :  this,  which  was  called 
the  spirit  of  raw  silk,  when  rectified  with  some  essential  oil, 
was  the  medicine  formerly  celebrated  under  the  name  of 
"  Guttae  Anglicanae,"  or  English  drops.  The  volatile  alkali 
obtained  from  silk  was  then  supposed  to  be  of  a  diiferent  na- 
ture from  that  contained  in  any  other  substance,  and  it  con- 
sequently was  held  to  possess  different  virtues  peculiar  to 
itself.  So  salt  of  tartar,  and  sub-carbonate  of  potass,  were  for 
a  long  time  considered  to  be,  and  were  used  as  two  separate 
substances.  The  chemical  philosopher  had  not  then  learned 
to  generalize,  and  could  not  understand  that  the  same  sub- 
stance, differing  in  no  one  particular  as  to  its  nature  and 
properties,  could  be  obtained  from  many  apparently  wholly 
dissimilar  bodies. 

Before  the  discoveries  of  chemistry  had  arrested  the  fanci- 
ful flights  and  annihilated  the  quaint  distinctions  of  the  drug- 
gist, his  catalogue  presented  a  curious  nomenclature,  wThich 
is  now  acknowledged  to  have  been  founded  on  ignorance  and 
prejudice.  The  light  of  science  has  since  pierced  the  veil, 
and  has  revealed  many  of  the  laws  of  nature  in  all  the  beau- 
tiful simplicity  of  their  elements;  dispelling  much  of  the 
complicated  mystery  and  vague  obscurity  which  then  envel- 
oped the  ill-understood  practice  of  pharmacy. 

A  silk  covering  of  the  texture  of  a  common  handkerchief 
is  said  to  possess  the  peculiar  property  of  resisting  the  nox- 


PART  IV. 


PROPERTIES  OF  SILK. 


247 


ious  influence  and  of  neutralizing  the  effects  of  malaria.  If, 
as  is  supposed,  the  poisonous  matter  is  received  into  the  sys- 
tem through  the  lungs,  it  may  not  be  difficult  to  account  for 
the  action  of  this  very  simple  preventive :  it  is  well  known 
that  such  is  the  nature  of  malaria  poison,  that  it  is  easily  de- 
composed by  even  feeble  chemical  agents.  Now,  it  is  proba- 
ble that  the  heated  air  proceeding  from  the  lungs  may  form 
an  atmosphere  within  the  veil  of  silk,  of  power  sufficient  to 
decompose  the  miasma  in  its  passage  to  the  mouth ;  although 
it  may  be  equally  true  that  the  texture  of  the  silk  covering 
may  act  mechanically  as  a  non-conductor,  and  prove  an  im- 
pediment to  the  transmission  of  the  deleterious  substance.* 

We  learn  from  Pomet's  history  of  drugs,  that  silk  was  in 
his  time  used  as  a  medicine,  by  reducing  the  pure  part  of 
the  cocoon  into  a  powder.  His  volume  contains  many 
copious  directions  for  preparing  this  powder,  and  for  duly  and 
carefully  separating  the  chrysalis  from  the  part  which  he  con- 
sidered medicinal.  Silk  thus  prepared  has,  as  he  affirmed, 
"  the  virtues  of  cleansing  the  blood,  making  the  spirits  brisk, 
and  the  heart  pleasant."  Lemery,  the  editor  and  commenta- 
tor of  Pomet,  adds,  that  the  silkworm  itself  likewise  possesses 
medicinal  properties.  According  to  his  information,  silk- 
worms that  had  been  dried  into  a  powder  and  applied  upon 
the  head,  which  should  be  previously  shaved  for  the  reception 
of  this  plaster,  were  esteemed  extremely  efficacious  in  curing 
vertigo. 

The  imperishable  nature  of  silk,  even  under  circumstances 
peculiarly  unfavorable  to  the  preservation  of  animal  sub- 
stances, forms  another  of  its  qualities  which  is  deserving  of 
remark.  Some  years  ago,  the  sexton  of  the  parish  of  Fal- 
kirk, in  Stirlingshire,  upon  opening  a  grave  in  the  churchyard, 
found  a  riband  wrapped  about  the  bone  of  an  arm,  and  which, 
being  washed,  was  found  to  be  entire,  and  to  have  suffered 
no  injury,  although  it  had  lain  for  more  than  eight  years  in 
the  earth,  and  had  been  in  contact  with  a  body  which  had 
passed  through  every  stage  of  putrefaction,  until  it  was  re- 
duced to  its  kindred  dust.  * 


The  discovery  that  silk  is  an  electric,  or  a  non-conductor 
of  electricity,  originated  in  one  of  those  fortunate  accidents 
to  which  science  has  been  indebted  for  many  of  her  most 
valuable  discoveries.    This  fact  it  was  which  first  led  to  the 


*  Annual  Register  for  1829,  vol.  Ixxi. 


248 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  IV* 


beautiful  disclosure  of  the  distinction  between  electrics  and 
non-electrics.* 

In  1729,  while  the  knowledge  of  electrical  phenomena 
was  yet  in  its  first  infancy,  Mr.  Grey,  after  performing  many 
interesting  experiments,  succeeded  in  conducting  the  electric 
fluid,  excited  by  friction  in  a  glass  tube,  through  a  perpendic- 
ular distance  of  many  feet,  by  causing  one  end  of  a  piece  of 
iron  wire  or  packthread  to  communicate  with  the  glass  tube, 
and  the  other  end  with  an  ivory  ball.  Pleased  with  his  suc- 
cess, he  became  desirous  of  conducting  the  fluid  horizontally; 
but  this  experiment  failed  at  the  time,  through  the  mode  of 
his  attempting  it,  which  was  by  carrying  his  line  over  a 
packthread  cord,  suspended  for  the  purpose  across  the  room. 
Through  this  material  the  electric  stream  escaped,  and  the 
ivory  ball  was,  in  consequence,  no  longer  found  to  be  excited. 

Mr.  Grey  having  communicated  to  a  friend  the  ill  success 
which  had  attended  this  attempt,  was  advised  to  suspend  the 
conducting  line  by  silk  instead  of  packthread ;  there  being 
no  other  reason  for  this  advice  than  the  greater  fineness  of 
the  former.  Acting  upon  this  suggestion,  their  first  experi- 
ment was  made  in  a  large  matted  gallery;  a  line,  the  middle 
part  of  which  was  of  silk  and  the  two  extremities  of  pack- 
thread, was  fastened  across  the  gallery  ;  the  conducting  line 
with  the  ivory  ball  at  the  end  was  passed  over  the  silken  por- 
tion, and  hung  nine  feet  below  this  horizontal  line  of  sus- 
pension. The  conducting  line  was  eighty  feet  and  a  half  in 
length,  one  end  being  fastened  by  a  loop  to  the  electric  tube ; 
upon  rubbing  this,  the  experimenters  had  the  gratification  of 
finding  that  the  ivory  ball  attracted  and  repelled  light  sub- 
stances in  the  same  manner  as  the  tube  itself  would  have 
done.  They  next  contrived  to  return  the  line,  so  that  the 
whole  length  amounted  to  147  feet,  and  in  this  case  likewise 
the  experiment  answered  tolerably  well ;  but  suspecting  that 
the  attraction  of  the  electric  fluid  would  be  stronger  if  the, 
line  were  not  doubled,  they  carried  one  straight  forward 
through  a  distance  of  124  feet.  In  this  anticipation  they 
were  not  deceived,  the  atraction  under  these  circumstances 
being  stronger  than  when  the  line  was  doubled.  Proceeding 
thence  to  add  more  and  still  more  to  their  conducting  line, 
until  at  length  the  slender  silk  thread  broke  from  the  weight 
imposed,  they  sought  to  subtitute  for  this  fragile  cord  a  small 
wire,  first  of  iron  and  then  of  brass.  The  unsuccessful  re- 
sult, however,  soon  brought  them  to  the  conviction,  that  the 


*  Note  H  IL 


PART  IV. 


PROPERTIES  OF  SILK. 


249 


refusal  of  the  silk  to  conduct  the  electric  fluid  was  not  owing 
to  its  fineness,  but  proceeded  from  some  inherent  property 
possessed  by  the  material.  The  metallic  wires  were  smaller 
even  than  their  silken  thread  had  been,  and  yet  they  effectu- 
ally carried  off  the  electricity :  thicker  silken  cords  were 
therefore  adopted,  and,  as  before,  the  electric  fluid  was  con- 
veyed to  a  great  horizontal  distance,  without  suffering  any 
diminution  of  its  virtue. 

This  knowledge  of  the  non-conducting  power  of  silk  was 
quickly  followed  by  the  discovery  of  the  same  quality  in 
many  other  substances,  and  thus  accidentally  was  laid  the 
foundation  of  many  of  the  subsequent  improvements  in  the 
science  of  electricity. 

No  particular  attention  was  paid  to  the  electric  qualities 
of  silk,  nor  were  any  experiments  made  on  it  as  an  electric, 
until  the  year  1759.  Mr.  Symmer's  notice  was  then  attract- 
ed to  the  subject  by  the  following  whimsical  circumstance, 
which  led  him  to  the  performance  of  many  curious  experi- 
ments. The  results  of  these  he  communicated  to  the  Royal 
Society,  by  whom  his  paper  was  inserted  in  the  fifty-first 
volume  of  their  "  Transactions." 

Mr.  Symmer  was  in  the  habit  of  wearing  at  the  same 
time  two  pairs  of  silk  stockings ;  the  under  pair  white  and 
the  upper  pair  black.  If  these  were  pulled  off  together,  no 
sign  of  electricity  appeared ;  but  if  the  black  stockings  were 
pulled  off  from  the  wiiite,  a  snapping  or  crackling  noise  was 
heard  ;  and  when  this  happened  in  the  dark,  sparks  were 
plainly  perceived  between  them.  Thus  incited,  their  philo- 
sophic wearer  proceeded  to  make  some  further  observations 
on  the  subject.  He  found,  that  by  merely  drawing  his  hand 
several  times  backwards  and  forwards  over  his  leg  while  the 
stockings  were  upon  it,  he  produced,  in  great  perfection,  the 
following  appearances. 

On  the  stockings  being  taken  off  separately  and  held 
within  a  certain  distance  of  each  other,  both  appeared  to  be 
highly  excited,  the  white  stocking  vitreously,  the  black  one 
resinously.*  While  kept  at  a  small  distance  from  each  other, 
they  were  so  inflated  that  they  exhibited  the  entire  shape  of 
his  leg ;  and  if  brought  somewhat  nearer,  would  immediately 
rush  together.  The  inflation  gradually  subsided  as  they  thus 
approached,  and  their  attraction  of  extraneous  objects  dimin- 
ished as  their  mutual  attraction  increased,  so  that  when  they 


*  Vitreous  and  resinous  electricity  used  to  be  termed  positive  and 
negative. 


250 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  IV. 


actually  met,  they  became  flat  and  adhered  together  like  so 
many  folds  of  silk.  On  being  again  separated,  their  electric 
powers  did  not  seem  to  be  at  all  impaired,  and  they  continued 
for  a  considerable  time  to  afford  a  repetition  of  these  appear- 
ances. If  the  two  white  stockings  were  held  in  one  hand, 
and  the  black  ones  in  the  other,  they  were  thrown  into  a 
strange  agitation,  owing  to  the  attraction  exercised  between 
those  of  different  colors,  and  the  repulsion  between  those  of 
the  same  color.  This  conflicting  of  attractions  and  repul- 
sions caused  the  stockings  to  rush  to  each  other  from  greater 
distances  than  they  would  otherwise  have  done,  and  "  afford- 
ed a  very  curious  spectacle." 

If  the  stockings  were  allowed  to  meet,  they  adhered  to- 
gether with  considerable  force.  They  required  at  one  time 
a  weight  of  twelve  ounces  for  their  separation ;  and  on  an- 
other occasion,  when  they  were  more  highly  electrified,  they 
sustained,  in  a  direction  parallel  to  their  surface,  as  much  as 
seventeen  ounces,  which  was  twenty  times  the  weight  of  the 
stockings.  If  one  were  placed  within  the  other,  it  required 
a  weight  equal  to  twenty  ounces  to  separate  them,  although 
half  this  sufficed  for  the  purpose  if  the  stockings  were  ap- 
plied to  each  other  externally. 

The  black  stockings  being  newly  dyed,  and  the  white  ones 
first  washed  and  then  bleached  by  exposure  to  the  vapor  of 
sulphur,  their  mutual  attraction  was  seen  to  be  much  in- 
creased. Under  these  circumstances,  if  one  was  placed 
within  the  other  with  their  rough  sides  together,  it  required 
a  force  of  three  pounds  three  ounces  to  separate  them. 

With  stockings  of  more  substantial  make,  the  cohesion 
was  found  to  be  still  stronger.  A  white  stocking  of  this  de- 
scription was  placed  within  a  black  one  of  similar  quality ; 
first  with  the  right  side  of  one  contiguous  to  the  wrong  side 
of  the  other,  and  afterwards  with  the  two  rough  surfaces 
touching  each  other :  in  the  first  case  they  raised  nearly  nine 
pounds,  and  in  the  second,  the  still  more  surprising  weight 
of  fifteen  pounds,  without  separating  their  surfaces.  The 
tufts  and  ends  of  silk  which  are  generally  found  on  the  in- 
side of  stockings  considerably  assisted  towards  the  result  of 
these  experiments,  which  were  not  nearly  so  striking  after 
these  tufts  were  removed. 

In  the  course  of  his  experiments,  Mr.  Symmer  also  discov- 
ered that  black  and  white  silk,  when  highly  electrified,  not 
only  cohere  to  each  other,  but  will  also  adhere  to  any  broad 
and  to  any  polished  surfaces,  even  although  these  bodies 
should  not  be  themselves  electrified.    Having  undesignedly 


PART  IV. 


PROPERTIES   OF  SILK. 


251 


thrown  a  stocking  out  of  his  hand,  it  struck  against  the  side 
of  the  apartment,  and  adhered  to  the  paper-hangings.  He 
repeated  the  experiment,  and  found  that  the  stocking  would 
continue  its  adhesion  for  nearly  an  hour.  Placing  a  black 
and  a  white  stocking  against  the  wall  in  this  manner,  he  ap- 
plied the  two  others  to  them,  which  had  previously  been 
highly  electrified ;  and  putting  the  white  to  the  black  and 
the  black  to  the  white,  he  carried  them  off  from  the  wall, 
each  of  them  hanging  to  that  which  had  drawn  it  from  its 
situation.  When  the  stockings  were  applied  to  the  smooth 
surface  of  a  looking-glass,  they  adhered  even  more  tena- 
ciously. 

Similar  experiments,  combining  a  greater  variety  of  cir- 
cumstances, were  afterwards  made  with  white  and  black 
ribands  by  Mr.  Cigna  of  Turin,  an  account  of  which  was 
published  in  the  memoirs  of  the  Academy  of  that  city  for 
the  year  1765. 

Having  dried  before  the  fire  two  white  silk  ribands,  and 
extended  them  upon  a  smooth  plane,  he  then  several  times 
drew  over  them  the  sharp  edge  of  an  ivory  rule,  and  found 
that  both  ribands  had  by  this  friction  acquired  sufficient  elec- 
tricity to  adhere  to  the  plane,  although  they  gave  no  indica- 
tions of  being  in  this  state  of  excitement  during  their  con- 
tinuance upon  it.  It  was  not  at  all  material  to  the  success  of 
the  experiment,  whether  this  plane  was  itself  an  electric  or 
non-electric  substance.  When  taken  up  separately,  the 
ribands  both  appeared  to  be  resinously  electrified,  and  repell- 
ed each  other :  on  dividing  them,  electric  sparks  were  per- 
ceived between  them,  but  on  being  again  forced  together  or 
placed  on  the  plane,  no  sparks  were  given  off  until  they  had 
been  again  excited  by  friction.  When  by  means  of  the  ivory 
rule  they  had  thus  acquired  the  resinous  electricity,  if,  in- 
stead of  being  replaced  on  the  smooth  body  whereon  they 
had  been  rubbed,  the  ribands  were  applied  to  a  rough  con- 
ducting surface,  they  would  on  their  subsequent  separation 
show  contrary  states  of  electricity,  which  would  again  disap- 
pear on  their  being  brought  together.  If  after  having  been 
made  by  friction  to  repel  each  other,  they  were  forced  to- 
gether upon  such  a  rough  surface,  they  would  in  a  few 
minutes  be  mutually  attracted,  the  under  one  being  vitreously 
and  the  upper  riband  resinously  electrified. 

If  the  two  ribands  were  subjected  to  friction  upon  a  rough 
surface,  they  uniformly  acquired  contrary  states  of  electri- 
city, the  upper  being  resinously  and  the  lower  one  vitreously 
affected,  in  whatever  manner  they  might  be  taken  off.  The 


252  SILK  MANUFACTURE.  PART  IV, 

same  change  was  instantaneously  produced  by  the  use  of  any 
pointed  conductor.  If,  for  instance,  the  two  ribands  having 
been  made  to  repel  each  other,  the  point  of  a  needle  were 
drawn  along  the  whole  length  of  one,  it  would  cause  both 
instantly  to  rush  together.  The  same  means  employed  to 
effect  a  change  of  electricity  in  a  riband  already  electrified, 
would  communicate  electricity  to  the  other,  which  had  not 
yet  received  the  excitement.  An  unelectrified  riband  would 
become  electrified  if  placed  upon  a  rough  surface  and  an 
electrified  riband  were  put  upon  it,  or  if  the  one  were  held 
parallel  to  the  other  and  a  pointed  conductor  were  presented. 

Upon  a  smooth  surface,  Mr.  Cigna  placed  a  riband  that  was 
not  quite  dry,  and  applied  over  it  another  that  had  been  well 
dried  before  the  fire,  when,  after  applying  to  them  the  usual 
friction  with  the  ivory  rule,  he  found  that,  in  whatever  man- 
ner they  were  removed  from  the  surface,  the  upper  one  was 
always  resinously  and  the  lower  one  vitreously  electrified. 
Exactly  the  same  results  were  produced  if  the  ribands  em- 
ployed were  black  instead  of  white.  If  any  kind  of  skin,  or 
if  a  piece  of  smooth  glass,  were  used  in  place  of  the  ivory 
rule,  the  effect  was  exactly  the  same  ;  but  if  a  roll  of  sul- 
phur were  substituted,  the  ribands  then  uniformly  acquired 
the  vitreously  electric  state :  when  rubbed  with  paper,  either 
gilt  or  not  gilt,  the  effects  were  uncertain.  If  the  ribands 
were  placed  between  folds  of  paper  on  a  plane  surface,  and 
friction  were  then  applied  to  them,  both  ribands  acquired 
the  resinous  electricity.  When  one  riband  was  black,  and 
the  other  white,  the  black  generally  acquired  the  resinous 
and  the  white  the  vitreous  state,  whatever  might  have  been 
their  relative  position,  or  the  manner  of  applying  friction. 

Mr.  Cigna  likewise  observed,  that  when  the  texture  of  the 
upper  piece  of  silk  was  loose,  yielding,  or  retiform,  like  that 
of  a  stocking,  so  that  its  elasticity  caused  it  to  move  up  and 
down  with  the  corresponding  movements  of  the  rubber 
against  the  surface  of  the  lower  riband ;  and  if  the  rubber 
employed  were  of  such  a  nature  as  to  communicate  but  little 
electricity  to  glass,  the  excitement  did  not  depend  upon  the 
action  of  the  rubber,  but  upon  the  body  whereon  it  was 
placed.  In  such  a  case,  the  black  silk  was  always  resinously 
and  the  white  vitreously  affected.  But  if  the  riband  was  of 
a  close  unyielding  texture,  anu1  the  nature  of  the  rubber  such 
as  would  communicate  a  high  degree  of  electricity  to  glass, 
then  the  excitement  of  the  upper  piece  depended  altogether 
upon  the  rubber.  Thus,  if  a  white  silk  stocking  were  rub- 
bed with  gilt  paper  upon  glass,  it  became  resinously  and  the 


PART  IV. 


PROPERTIES  OF  SILK. 


253 


glass  vitreously  electrified ;  but  if  the  piece  of  silk  thus 
placed  upon  the  plate  of  glass  were  of  a  firmer  texture,  it 
was  always  electrified  vitreously  and  the  glass  resinously, 
when  sulphur  was  employed  as  the  rubber;  and  most  gen- 
erally the  same  effect  followed  the  use  of  gilt  paper. 

If  an  electrified  riband  were  brought  near  to  an  insulated 
plate  of  lead,  it  would  be  very  feebly  attracted.  If  then  a 
finger  were  brought  nigh  to  the  lead,  a  spark  might  be  ob- 
served to  pass,  and  the  riband  was  powerfully  attracted,  but 
showed  no  further  sign  of  electric  excitement  after  coming 
in  contact  with  the  metal.  On  their  separation,  however, 
both  substances  appeared  again  electrified,  and  a  spark  passed 
between  the  plate  and  the  finger. 

If  several  ribands  of  the  same  color  were  placed  on  each 
other  upon  a  smooth  conducting  surface,  and  rubbed  with  a 
ruler,  each,  on  being  taken  singly  up,  gave  out  sparks  at  its 
point  of  separation  from  the  others ;  and  on  the  removal  of 
the  last  riband,  a  spark  would  equally  pass  between  it  and  the 
couductor.  If  all  were  drawn  from  the  plate  together,  they 
cohered  in  one  mass,  which  was  resinously  electrified  on 
both  sides.  If  after  this  they  were  laid  together  on  a  rough 
conductor,  and  then  separated  singly,  beginning  with  that 
which  had  been  at  bottom  and  next  to  the  smooth  conductor, 
sparks  appeared  as  before,  and  all  the  ribands,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  that  at  the  top,  were  electrified  vitreously.  If 
friction  were  applied  to  them  upon  the  rough  conductor,  and 
all  were  taken  up  without  separation,  the  intermediate 
ribands  acquired  the  electric  state  of  either  the  highest  or 
lowest,  according  as  the  separation  was  begun  with  either  the 
one  or  the  other.  When  two  ribands  were  removed  together 
from  the  rest,  they  clung  to  each  other,  and  exhibited  none 
of  those  indications  of  excitement  which  one,  if  taken  alone, 
would  have  shown.  When  these  two  were  separated,  that 
which  had  been  the  outer  one  was  found  to  have  acquired 
electricity  of  an  opposite  nature  to  that  of  the  remaining  un- 
divided ribands,  but  in  a  much  weaker  degree. 

Several  ribands  were  placed  upon  a  metallic  plate,  which 
was  charged  with  electricity  by  means  of  a  glass  globe  and  a 
pointed  conductor  held  to  the  side  opposite  to  the  ribands. 
The  effect  of  this  was,  that  all  of  these  became  electrified  ; 
but  whether  the  state  of  their  excitement  was  like  to  or  dif- 
fering from  that  of  the  plate,  depended  altogether  on  the 
manner  of  their  removal,  except  that  the  riband  which  was 
most  remote  always  exhibited  the  opposite  state  of  electricity 
to  that  of  the  metallic  plate. 


254 


SILK  MANUFACTURE. 


PART  IV. 


Numerous  other  experiments,  equally  simple  and  easy  of 
accomplishment,  may  be  made  on  the  electric  properties  of 
silk,  which  are,  no  doubt,  familiar  to  such  persons  as  have  at 
all  attended  to  the  science  of  electricity.  Silk,  more  re- 
markably than  any  other  substance,  exhibits  a  strong  and  per- 
manent attractive  and  repulsive  electric  power.  Its  property 
of  exciting  electricity  by  friction  is  of  extensive  application, 
causing  it  to  hold  an  important  place  among  the  substances 
employed  to  exhibit  the  wonders  of  this  science :  silk  always 
forms  part  of  the  apparatus  of  electrifying  machines. 

No  attempt  has  been  here  made  to  bring  forward  any  thing 
new,  or  that  has  not  been  long  well  known  upon  the  subject ; 
but  as  many  persons  are  prone  to  consider  that  experiments 
on  scientific  subjects  must  necessarily  be  invested  with  com- 
plexity, which  places  them  beyond  accomplishment  by  the 
uninitiated,  the  above  trifling  detail  will  serve  to  prove  the 
fallacy  of  this  opinion.  The  inartificial  nature  of  the  opera- 
tions places  them  within  the  reach  of  all  who  are  disposed  to 
repeat  them;  and  some  natural  phenomena  may  thus  be 
brought  within  the  observation  of  every  one ;  adding  one 
more  instance  to  the  crowd  of  examples  wherewith  we  are 
surrounded,  that  the  most  simple  substances  of  daily  use, 
whose  qualities  of  beauty  or  convenience  are  alone  under- 
stood by  the  multitude,  may  be  made  to  afford  to  the  mind  of 
the  inquirer  matter  for  philosophical  amusement  and  instruc- 
tion. 


NOTES. 


Note  A.  page  14. 
It  has  been  well  observed,  "  That  throughout  this  extensive  empire, 
embracing  so  great  a  variety  of  climate,  the  physical  and  moral  qual- 
ities of  the  people  remain  as  fixed  and  unchangeable  as  the  laws  and 
customs  from  which,  in  fact,  they  receive  their  color.  Such  is  the  force 
of  ancient  usage  and  the  dread  of  innovation,  that  a  Chinese  never 
stops  to  inquire  what  he  ought  to  do  on  any  pressing  emergency,  but 
what  Yao  and  Chun  did  in  a  similar  case  four  thousand  years  ago. 
Time,  in  fact,  may  be  said  to  stand  still  in  China.  Here  not  only  the 
system  of  morals,  of  social  intercourse,  of  jurisprudence,  of  govern- 
ment, is  the  same  now  as  it  was  three  thousand  years  ago ;  but  the  cut 
of  their  robes,  their  houses,  and  furniture,  are  precisely  the  same  :  so 
that  if  custom  has  exercised  its  dominion  over  this  singular  people, 
they  have  at  least  been  freed  from  the  tyranny  of  fashion. 

^  *  *  *  *  * 

The  maxims  of  the  sovereigns  and  sages  of  antiquity, — the  rites  and 
ceremonies  and  duties  required  by  the  civil  and  religious  institutions 
of  the  empire,  the  laws  and  customs — are  the  points  of  knowledge 
which  lead  to  wealth,  power,  and  distinction  in  the  state."  Sup.  Ency. 
Brit.  art.  China. 

These  people,  therefore,  have  no  motive  for  joining  in  the  race  of 
improvement ;  while  it  has  always  been  the  policy  of  their  govern- 
ment to  check  and  entirely  to  repress  all  desire  of  change. 

Note  B.  page  16. 

Macpherson,  in  his  Annals  of  Commerce,  to  which  valuable  work 
the  author  is  indebted  for  many  of  the  dates  and  facts  recorded  in  this 
volume,  remarks,  with  great  appearance  of  probability,  that  perhaps 
the  Seres  were  themselves  the  authors  of  this  fable ;  thus  making  it 
appear  to  foreigners  that  the  advantage  was  a  blessing  showered  down 
peculiarly  on  their  own  favored  country,  and  one  in  which  others 
could  not  participate. 

Note  C.  page  17. 
There  have  been  many  speculations  formed  for  unravelling  a  sub- 
ject which  is  involved  in  so  much  mystery.  One  of  the  most  ingenious 
among  these  is  found  in  the  following  note  to  Marsden's  translation  of 
the  Travels  of  Marco  Polo : — "  I  have  long  entertained  the  idea  that 
the  golden  fleece  which  Jason  carried  off  from  Colchis  was  a  cargo, 
or  perhaps  only  a  skein,  of  rich  golden-colored  raw  silk  in  the  hank, 
which  might  figuratively  be  termed  a  fleece,  because  it  was  to  be 
twisted  into  thread  and  interwoven  into  cloth.  This,  at  least,  is  as 
plausible  as  the  commonly  received  solution,  admitted  by  a  cele- 
brated historian  not  prone  to  credulity." 


256 


NOTES. 


Note  D.  page  18. 

Nearchus,  Aristobulus,  Theophmstus,  Virgil,  Dionysius,  Periegetes, 
Seneca,  Arrian,  Solinus,  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  Claudian,  Jerome,  &e. 

Note  E.  page  19. 

Publius  Syrus,  Varro,  Tibullus,  Propertius,  Horace,  Seneca,  Pliny, 
and  Juvenal. 

Pliny,  1.  xi.  c.  23.  Tacit.  Ann.  1.  ii.  c.  32. 

Note  F.  page  19. 
"  Reflexions  sur  les  Liaisons  des  Romains  avec  les  Tartares.  et  le3 
Chinois,"  by  M.  de  Guignes,  in  Memoires  de  Litterature ,  vol.  xxxii.  p. 
355.  It  is  said,  indeed,  by  Florus,  lib.  iv.  c.  12.,  that  ambassadors  came 
from  the  Seres  to  court  the  favor  of  Augustus;  but  this  is  not  very 
probable,  as  in  the  whole  course  of  the  history  of  this  people  it  ap- 
pears that  they  were  never  desirous  of  any  alliance  or  intercourse 
with  other  nations. 

Note  G.  page  19. 

By  the  Rhodian  naval  laws,  preserved  in  the  eleventh  book  of  the 
Digests,  unmixed  silk  goods  when  shipwrecked,  if  they  were  preserved 
free  from  wet,  paid  a  salvage  of  10  per  cent.,  as  being  equal  to  gold  in 
value. 

Note  H.  page  26. 

Otho  Frising.  de  Gest.  Frederici.  1.  i.  c.  33. ;  apud  Muratori,  Script, 
vol.  vi.  col.  668.  Falcandi  Hist.  Sicul.  praef. ;  ap.  Muratori,  Script,  vol. 
vii.  col.  256. 

Note  I.  page  27. 

The  ancient  Chinese  are  said  to  have  extended  their  voyages  as  far 
from  home  as  the  coast  of  Africa, — a  degree  of  maritime  adventure 
wrhich  does  not  receive  much  confirmation  from  our  knowledge  of  the 
channels  through  which,  in  those  remote  times,  commercial  inter- 
course was  carried  forward  in  the  East.  According  to  Cosmas,  the 
Indians  who  traded  with  the  Chinese  were  accustomed  to  resort  to 
Ceylon,  where  alone  they  received  silks,  spices,  and  other  valuable 
productions,  which  were  thence  distributed  among  the  different  marts 
of  India.  Gibbon,  in  the  fifth  volume  of  the  "  Decline  and  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire,"  thus  describes  the  mode  of  prosecuting  this  com- 
merce : — "The  Chinese  and  Indian  navigators  were  conducted  by  the 
flight  of  birds  and  periodical  winds,  and  the  ocean  might  be  securely 
traversed  in  square-built  ships,  which,  instead  of  iron,  were  sewed  to- 
gether with  the  strong  thread  of  the  cocoa-nut.  Ceylon,  Serendip,  or 
Taprobana,  was  divided  between  two  hostile  princes ;  one  of  whom 
possessed  the  mountains,  the  elephants,  and  the  luminous  carbuncle  ; 
and  the  other  enjoyed  the  more  sordid  riches  of  domestic  industry, 
foreign  trade,  and  the  capacious  harbor  of  Trinquemale,  which  re- 
ceived and  dismissed  the  fleets  of  the  East  and  West.  In  this  hos- 
pitable isle,  at  an  equal  distance  (as  it  was  computed)  from  their  re- 
spective countries,  the  silk  merchants  of  China,  who  had  collected  in 
their  voyages,  aloes,  cloves,  nutmegs,  and  sandal  wood,  maintained  a 
free  and  beneficial  commerce  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  Persian 
Gulf." 


NOTES. 


257 


Note  K.  page  40. 

The  project  of  rearing  silkworms  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
has  very  recently  been  renewed,  and  a  small  package  of  silk,  the  re- 
sult of  this  attempt,  was,  early  in  the  present  year  (1831),  imported  into 
Liverpool. 

The  president  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society  established  in 
Philadelphia,  M.  Du ponceau,  has  for  some  time  been  desirous  of  en- 
couraging this  branch  of  rural  economy,  and  lately  established  a  fila- 
ture, under  the  direction  of  a  gentleman,  who,  having  conducted  a 
similar  undertaking  at  Nismes  in  France,  is  possessed  of  the  requisite 
knowledge  and  experience. 

The  quality  of  the  silk  hitherto  produced  in  Pennsylvania  is  said 
fully  to  equal  that  of  Bengal :  it  promises  to  stand  well  the  various 
processes  of  dyeing,  throwing,  and  weaving  ;  but,  as  might  be  expect- 
ed in  the  commencement  of  such  an  undertaking,  the  operation  of 
reeling  has  not  been  conducted  with  the  requisite  degree  of  skill. 
The  attempt  has  hitherto  been  made  on  too  small  a  scale  for  the  pro- 
jector to  form  any  satisfactory  opinion  upon  the  issue  as  regards  its 
profitableness  ,•  and  it  yet  remains  to  be  seen  whether  the  Philadel- 
phians  are  in  possession  of  facilities  for  this  pursuit,  which  will  coun- 
terbalance the  high  rate  of  wages  prevalent  throughout  the  state,  and 
which  would  otherwise  give  a  decided  advantage  in  point  of  price  to 
the  raw  silks  of  Italy  and  India,  even  in  the  markets  of  the  United 
States. 

The  subject  has  appeared  to  be  of  so  much  importance  to  the  Amer- 
ican legislature,  that  a  committee  of  congress  has  recommended  the 
project  to  the  attention  and  protection  of  the  government. 

Note  L.  page  52. 

It  is  the  policy  of  many  of  the  states  of  Italy  rigidly  to  exclude 
British  manufactured  goods  from  their  territories.  Yet  as  we  annually 
take  from  them  merchandise,  principally  raw  silk,  to  the  value  of  two 
millions  sterling,  and  as  no  exportation  of  the  precious  metals  is  made 
in  payment  for  the  same,  it  became  a  question  in  what  shape  and  by 
what  channels  the  Italian  merchants  obtained  returns  for  their  pro- 
duce. Upon  investigation,  it  appeared  that  the  foreign  traders  took 
their  remuneration  in  bills  of  exchange  drawn  upon  the  London  mer- 
chants, by  far  the  largest  portion  of  which  were  remitted  to  Man- 
chester and  Glasgow  from  Austria  and  the  German  states,  in  return 
for  those  products  of  British  industry  against  which  the  Italian  govern- 
ments so  strictly  closed  their  ports.  It  is  indeed  hopeless  for  any  na- 
tion, so  long  as  it  has  productions  of  its  own  for  sale,  thus  to  attempt 
the  exclusion  of  the  produce  of  another  country;  and  perhaps  the 
only  consequence  of  such  short-sighted  policy  will  be  the  enhancement 
to  themselves  of  the  prices  of  foreign  productions. 

Note  M.  page  77. 

.  There  is  a  very  strong  analogy  between  the  course  pursued,  up  to  a 
recent  period,  by  the  English  government,  with  reference  to  the  trade 
in  thrown  and  manufactured  silk,  and  that  followed  by  the  govern- 
ment of  France  in  respect  of  the  introduction  of  materials  for  their 
cotton  manufactures.  The  spinners  of  fine  cotton  yarns  in  the  latter 
country  having  asked  for  protection  against  the  importation  of  yarns 

W2 


253 


NOTES. 


of  that  quality,  a  very  large  prohibitory  duty  was  accordingly  imposed. 
The  consequence  of  this  measure  w  as,  that  the  manufacturers  of  the 
better  qualities  of  muslin  not  being  able  to  dispense  with  the  use  of 
the  fine  yarns  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  import,  and  the 
French  spinners  being  unable  to  furnish  them  with  any  substitute,  the 
smuggler  was  immediately  put  into  active  occupation,  and,  notwith- 
standing the  vigilance  wherewith  revenue  restrictions  w7ere  enforced 
by  the  aid  of  military  cordons,  passed  through  them  all,  and  furnished 
to  the  manufacturer  the  fine  yarns  of  England  at  an  advance  in  price 
of  from  60  to  70  per  cent.,  so  that  the  French  spinner  gained  nothing 
by  the  prohibition. 

The  peculiar  circumstances  which  accompanied  the  state  of  war, 
enabled  the  French  manufacturer  at  that  time  to  prosper  even  under 
this  disadvantage  ;  but  when,  at  the  return  of  peace,  the  illicit  trader 
proceeded  to  introduce  English  muslins  ready  manufactured,  at  an  ad- 
vance upon  English  prices  of  only  from  17  to  25  per  cent.,  both  the 
spinners  and  weavers  were  completely  ruined. 

Note  N.  page  78. 

At  the  time  when  the  last  alteration  was  made  in  the  rate  of  duties 
charged  upon  foreign  manufactured  silk  goods  (April,  1829,)  it  was 
stated  in  the  house  of  commons  by  the  then  vice-president  of  the 
Board  of  Trade,  the  right  honorable  Vesey  Fitzgerald,  on  the  authority 
of  French  merchants,  that  the  total  cost  of  smuggling  and  insuring 
gros-de-naples  was  from  28  to  29  per  cent,  upon  their  value ;  that  the 
same  charges  upon  satin  ribands  amounted  to  from  24  to  25  per  cent. ; 
upon  sarcenet  ribands,  25  to  26  per  cent. ;  figured  gauze,  28  to  29  per 
cent.;  blonde,  12  to  13  per  cent.  The  smaller  rate,  in  the  latter  case, 
being  occasioned  by  the  greater  value  of  the  article  in  proportion  to 
its  bulk,  which  rendered  the  object  of  the  smuggler  easier  of  accom- 
plishment. It  was  further  stated  that  crepe-lisse,  crape,  and  plain 
gauzes,  had  not  been  smuggled  at  any  time  since  their  importation  had 
been  legalized  by  the  imposition  of  a  duty. 

Note  O.  page  80. 
The  evil  effects  of  prohibitory  laws  upon  the  moral  feelings  of  the 
community  were  thus  eloquently  enforced  by  Mr.  Vesey  Fitzgerald, 
on  the  occasion  to  which  reference  has  been  made  in  the  preceding 
Note.  "  Under  prohibition  the  trade  was  a  scene  of  offensive  and  ar- 
bitrary laws,  restrictive  of  the  fair  exercise  of  the  inclinations  of  the 
people,  and  regardless  of  their  wants.  They  were  laws  which  no  one 
felt  to  impose  any  moral  obligation,  and  thus  an  habitual  indifference 
to  the  breach  of  law  was  engendered  in  the  public  mind.  But  I  have 
said  they  were  inefficacious  ;  and  will  the  house  encourage  those  who 
avow  that  the  object  of  their  inquiry  is  to  establish  a  return  to  them  ? 
I  will  remove  from  the  statute-book,  if  I  can,  legal  crimes  which  the 
people  do  not  view  as  moral  crimes !  I  would  not  arm  the  common  in- 
former with  a  power  to  enter  the  houses  of  individuals;  I  would  not 
permit  even  the  king's  officer,  for  the  sake  of  a  fiscal  regulation,  to 
violate  the  sanctity  of  every  Englishman's  abode.  I  cannot  afford  to 
protect  the  manufacture  bysuch  odious  laws;  and  least  of  all,  when  I 
find  that  such  a  power  never  did  put  down  smuggling;  but  that,  with 
all  these  vile  appliances  and  bad  means  to  boot,  it  was  absolutely  in- 
efficacious." 


NOTES. 


259 


Note  P.  page  80. 

Simond,  who  visited  Lyons  in  1817,  has  described  the  poverty  of  the 
silk-weavers  resident  in  and  near  that  city,  as  being  more  abject  than 
any  thing  within  the  experience  of  our  own  artisans.  There,  as  with 
us,  the  manufacture  is  in  a  great  degree  domestic,  most  of  the  weavers 
executing  their  labor  in  their  own  dwellings.  The  abodes  of  the 
French  weavers  are,  however,  wretched  in  the  extreme;  one  room, 
twenty  feet  square,  not  unfrequently  serving  every  purpose,  both  as  a 
dwelling  and  workshop,  for  three  entire  families.* 

INote  Q.  page  82. 

Experience  has  almost  uniformly  proved,  that  low-priced  labor  is,  in 
the  end,  dear  labor  to  the  employer.  In  contrasting  the  rate  of  wages 
paid  in  different  countries  for  work  of  the  same  description,  we  should 
not  only  look  to  the  amount  of  money  which  goes  to  recompense  the 
daily  toil  of  the  artisan,  but  must  also  take  into  the  account  the  num- 
ber of  hours  during  which  he  works,  the  constancy  wherewith  he  ap- 
plies himself  to  his  labor,  and  tiie  skill  which  he  brings  to  its  accom- 
plishment. If  the  question  of  wages,  as  affecting  the  cost  of  manu- 
factures in  England,  be  examined  by  these  tests,  it  will  in  most  cases 
be  found  that  the  dearness  of  labor  with  us  is  more  nominal  than  real. 

This  position,  although  more  obviously  true  in  branches  where  labor 
•is  remunerated  according  to  the  time  expended,  cannot  yet  be  made  to 
appear  incorrect  in  any  case  unfettered  by  legislative  interference ;  and 
there  is  no  good  reason  for  doubting,  that  the  constantly  increasing 
f  kill  of  our  silk-weavers  would,  if  the  trade  were  rendered  perfectly 
free,  soon  give  to  the  productions  of  their  looms  a  value  more  than 
equivalent  to  any  difference  that  may  exist  between  the  money  rate 
of  wages  at  Lyons  and  in  Spitalfields. 

Note  R.  page  8G. 

The  bark  of  this  tree  not  only  furnishes  fibres  for  ropes,  but  it  can 
even  be  formed  into  a  species  of  cloth.  M.  la  Rouverie  affirms,  that 
he  procured  a  beautiful  vegetable  silk  from  the  young  branches  of 
this  species  of  mulberry ;  cutting  the  bark  while  the  tree  was  in  sap, 
and  then  beating  it  with  mallets  and  steeping  it  in  water,  he  obtained 
a  thread  from  the  fibres,  almost  equal  to  silk  in  quality,  and  this  was 
woven  into  a  cloth  whose  texture  appeared  as  if  formed  of  that  ma- 
terial. The  women  of  Louisiana  obtain  a  similar  production  from  the 
off-shoots  of  the  mulberry  ;  these  are  gathered  when  they  are  about 
four  or  five  feet  high.  The  bark  is  stripped  and  dried  in  the  sun :  it 
is  then  beaten,  to  get  rid  of  the  external  part,  which  falls  off,  leaving 
the  inner  bark  entire.  This  is  again  beaten,  to  make  it  still  finer, 
after  which  it  is  bleached  in  dew.  It  is  then  spun,  and  various  fabrics 
are  made  from  it,  such  as  nets  and  fringes ;  and  sometimes  it  is  woven 
into  cloth.  The  finest  sort  of  cloth  among  the  inhabitants  of  Otaheite, 
and  other  of  the  South  Sea  Islands,  is  made  of  the  bark  of  this  tree. 

Note  S.  page  86. 

The  wood  of  the  mulberry  tree  is  used  for  many  purposes.  Its  be- 
ing compact,  pliant,  and  hard,  capable  of  receiving  a  good  polish, 
causes  it  to  be  sought  by  upholsterers,  turners,  and  carvers.  Its  strength 


*  Tour  and  Residence  in  Switzerland,  vol.  i.  p.  317. 


260 


NOTES. 


makes  it  useful  to  the  joiner,  and  its  power  of  resisting  the  action  of 
water  almost  as  well  as  oak,  makes  it  good  timber  for  building  boats. 
It  is  also  a  very  good  wood  for  fuel,  and  it  is  well  adapted  for  making 
charcoal. — Mayet  sur  le  Culture  du  Murier. 

Note  T.  page  87. 

In  the  European  silk  countries  a  great  many  varieties  of  mulberry 
trees  are  distinguished,  arising  from  difference  of  climate,  soil,  method 
of  culture,  and  other  accidental  causes.  Among  the  wild  mulberries 
there  are  some  bearing  roundish  leaves  resembling  those  of  a  rose — 
hence  they  have  obtained  the  name  of  the  Rose-leaved  mulberry.  The 
mulberry  called  the  Roman  Leaf  is  distinguished  from  every  other 
species  by  its  very  large  leaves,  some  of  which  are  frequently  found 
equal  in  size  to  those  of  a  gourd. 

The  Spanish  greatly  resembles  the  wild  rose  mulberry,,  except  that 
its  leaves  are  larger  and  more  pointed.  It  is  by  no  means  delicate, 
and  can  resist  the  strongest  frosts  of  the  severest  winters  in  cold  cli- 
mates. 

The  leaves  of  the  mulberry  called  the  Small  Queen  are  oblong, 
moderately  large,  and  exceedingly  smooth;  this  species  is  of  an  excel- 
lent quality,  and  much  esteemed. 

Note  U.  page  87. 

Arthur  Young  observed  "many  noble  black  mulberry  trees  in 
Provence  and  Piedmont,  which  were  never  stripped,  but  kept  for  the 
fruit  merely — the  silk  being  considered  inferior  that  is  produced  from  # 
them."    Bertezen  affirms,  that  in  Italy  and  France  the  leaves  of  the 
black  mulberry  are  regarded  as  poison  to  the  worms. 

Note  V.  page  99. 

If  at  this  time  any  of  the  threads  intended  for  the  support  of  the  co- 
coon should  be  broken,  the  worm  will  find,  in  the  progress  of  its 
work,  that,  the  ball,  not  being  properly  poised,  becomes  unsteady,  so 
that  the  insect  is  unable  properly  to  go  forward  with  its  labors.  Un- 
der these  circumstances  the  worm  pierces  and  altogether  quits  the  un- 
finished cocoon,  and  throws  out  its  remaining  threads  at  random  wher- 
ever it  passes ;  by  which  means  the  silk  is  wholly  lost,  and  the  wwm, 
finding  no  place  wherein  to  prepare  for  its  last  change,  dies  without 
having  effected  it.  It  may  sometimes  happen,  but  such  a  thing  is  of 
infrequent  occurrence,  that  the  preparatory  threads  before  mentioned 
are  broken  by  another  worm  working  in  the  neighborhood,  when  the 
same  unsatisfactory  result  will  be  experienced. — Obs.  on  the  Culture  of 
Silk,  by  A.  Stephenson. 

Note  W.  page  109. 

Mons.  Marteloy  of  Montpelier,  who  made  many  experiments  upon 
the  rearing  of  silkworms,  presented  a  memorial  upon  the  subject  to 
the  French  minister,  in  compliance  with  whose  recommendation  the 
states  of  Languedoc  caused  an  experiment  to  be  conducted  publicly 
in  the  open  air,  in  the  garden  belonging  to  the  Jesuits'  college  at 
Montpelier.  The  whole  was  placed  under  the  direction  of  Mons. 
Marteloy,  who  had  1200  livres  assigned  to  him  to  defray  the  necessary 
expenses.   The  experiment  succeeded  perfectly.   This  was  in  1764. 


^OTES. 


261 


On  the  following  year  a  second  trial  was  made,  and  1800  livres  were 
set  apart  for  the  expenses.  Owing,  however,  to  the  unfavorable 
nature  of  the  season,  this  experiment  failed  entirely,  the  heavy  and 
incessant  rains  making  it  impossible  to  keep  the  food  of  the  worms  in 
a  sufficiently  dry  state.  The  rearing  of  silkworms  in  the  open  air  was 
not  again  attempted  in  that  quarter ;  but  the  partial  success  led  to  the 
adoption  among  cultivators  of  a  better  system  of  ventilation,  and  the 
production  of  silk  was  about  this  time  very  much  extended  throughout 
Languedoc. — Obs.  on  the  Culture  of  Silk,  by  A.  Stephenson. 

Note  X.  page  120. 

It  is  the  practice  at  Montauban,  in  Quercy,  to  employ  shallow  cir- 
cular willow  baskets,  which  are  furnished  with  brush-wood  for  the 
spinning  of  the  worms.  The  wood  is  ranged  round  two  thirds  of  the 
basket,  the  remaining  space  being  left  for  putting  in  the  worms  and 
for  clearing  away  the  litter.  The  ends  of  the  wood  are  pulled  together 
at  the  top,  and  kept  in  that  position  by  tying  them  with  packthread  ; 
after  which  a  paper  cap  is  placed  loosely  over  the  top,  the  cover  being 
thought  agreeable  to  the  worms :  the  brush- wood  rises  three  or  four 
feet  above  the  rim  of  the  basket. 

This  is  thought  to  be  an  excellent  contrivance,  as  it  keeps  the  worms 
more  cool  and  airy  than  when  they  are  placed  in  arbors  on  a  stage  ; 
but  it  is  expensive,  and  occupies  more  space  than  can  usually  be  al- 
lotted for  the  purpose. — Obs.  on  the  Culture  of  Silk,  by  A.  Stephenson. 

Note  Y.  page  127. 

Monsieur  Baume,  finding  that  the  method  usually  pursued  for  de- 
stroying the  chrysalides  previous  to  reeling  the  silk,  rendered  it  hard, 
and  that  the  cocoons  were  then  reeled  with  more  difficulty  than  in 
cases  wThere  no  artificial  heat  had  been  employed,  proposed  to  modify 
this  by  using  for  the  purpose  the  steam  of  spirit  of  wine,  which  vapor- 
izes at  a  temperature  much  below  that  of  boiling  water.  According 
to  the  testimony  of  this  able  chemist,  silk  thus  treated  proves  suscep- 
tible of  assuming  a  greater  lustre  than  that  which  has  been  baked. 
The  process  used  by  M.  Baume,  as  described  in  the  Annates  de  Chimie, 
was  to  dispose  the  cocoons  within  a  wooden  box,  in  a  stratum  six 
inches  deep;  upon  each  superficial  square  foot  of  these,  half  a  pint  of 
spirit  of  wine  was  sprinkled  from  a  watering-pot,  so  as  to  distribute 
the  liquid  equally  over  the  cocoons."  Another  stratum  was  then  form- 
ed over  these,  and  a  further  quantity  of  spirit  applied,  and  so  on  until 
the  box  was  filled.  This  being  then  covered  closely  up,  and  left 
during  twenty-four  hours,  the  whole  became  spontaneously  heated  to  a 
degree  sufficient  to  vaporize  the  spirit,  wrhich  in  that  form  penetrated 
the  cocoons,  and  acted  with  energy  sufficient  to  destroy  the  vitality  of 
the  chrysalides.  The  cocoons  having  after  this  been  spread  out  to  dry, 
wrere  then  ready  for  being  reeled.  Baume  states,  that  silk  thus  treated, 
not  only  will  exhibit  a  greater  lustre,  but  that  the  proportion  reeled 
will  be  one  ninth  part  greater  than  when  the  heat  of  an  oven  has  been 
employed. 

Note  Z.  page  130. 

The  Society  for  the  Encouragement  of  Arts,  &c,  after  having  for  a 
series  of  years  proffered  rewards  to  stimulate  the  culture  of  silk  in 
England,  appears  to  be  convinced  of  the  improbability  that  this  can 


262 


NOTES. 


ever  be  made  a  profitable  branch  of  industry  with  us.  From  time  to 
time  attempts  were  made  by  persons  whose  means  and  intelligence 
fully  qualified  them  for  the  undertaking,  and  some  few  rewards  were 
adjudged  by  the  society  upon  the  production  of  the  specified  quantities 
of  silk.  In  no  case,  however,  did  any  practical  good  follow  upon 
these  attempts,  and  the  society  now  limits  its  patronage  in  this  branch 
of  the  useful  arts  to  the  furtherance  of  silk  production  in  the  British 
colonies,  and  to  improvements  in  the  quality  of  such  as  is  raised  in 
British  India. 

Note  A  A.  page  134. 

Tobacco  is  found  to  be  a  deadly  poison  to  silkworms.  If  a  few 
grains  of  snuff  are  suffered  to  fall  upon  one  of  them,  immediate  signs 
of  agitation  and  distress  will  be  produced,  and  in  the  course  of  one 
minute  the  sufferer  will  be  thrown  into  convulsions  which  speedily 
end  in  death.  Just  before  expiring,  the  insect  casts  from  its  mouth  a 
watery  substance ;  and  if  any  other  worm  should  happen  to  be  touch- 
ed by  this  fluid,  the  like  fatal  effects  will  ensue. — Obs.  on  the  Culture 
of  Silk,  by  A.  Stephenson,  Esq,. 

Note  B  B.  page  135. 

"  There  is  in  the  order  of  nature  a  certain  and  very  surprising  fact ; 
when  the  leaves  of  vegetables  are  struck  by  the  sun's  rays,  they  exhale 
an  immense  quantity  of  vital  air  necessary  to  the  life  of  animals,  and 
which  they  consume  by  respiration. 

"  These  same  leaves  in  the  shade  and  in  darkness  exhale  an  im- 
mense quantity  of  mephitic  or  fixed  air,  which  cannot  be  breathed, 
and  in  which  animals  would  perish. 

"  This  influence  of  the  sun  does  not  cease  even  when  the  leaf  has 
been  recently  gathered  ;  on  the  contrary,  in  darkness,  gathered  leaves 
will  exhale  a  still  greater  quantity  of  mephitic  air. 

"  Place  one  ounce  of  fresh  mulberry  leaves  in  a  wide-necked  bottle 
of  the  size  of  a  Paris  pint,  containing  two  pounds  of  liquid ;  expose 
this  bottle  to  the  sun ;  about  an  hour  afterwards,  according  to  the  in- 
tensity of  the  sun,  reverse  the  bottle  and  introduce  a  lighted  taper  in 
it,  the  light  will  become  brighter,  whiter,  and  larger,  which  proves 
that  the  vital  air  contained  in  the  bottle  has  increased  by  that  which 
has  disengaged  itself  from  the  leayes:  to  demonstrate  this  phenomenon 
more  clearly,  a  taper  may  be  put  in  a  similar  bottle,  that  on]y  contains 
the  air. that  has  entered  into  it  by  its  being  uncorked.  Shortly  after 
the  first  experiment,  water  will  be  found  in  the  bottle  which  contained 
the  mulberry  leaves;  this  water,  evaporating  from  the  leaves  by 
means  of  the  heat,  hangs  on  the  sides,  and  runs  to  the  bottom  when 
cooling ;  the  leaves  appear  more  or  less  withered  and  dry,  according 
to  the  liquid  they  have  lost.  In  another  similar  bottle  place  an  ounce 
of  leaves,  and  cork  it  exactly  like  the  former ;  place  it  in  obscurity, 
either  in  a  box,  or  wrap  it  in  cloths,  in  short,  so  as  totally  to  exclude 
light;  about  two  hours  after  open  the  bottle,  and  put  either  a  lighted 
taper  or  a  small  bird  into  it ;  the  candle  will  go  out,  and  the  bird  will 
perish,  as  if  they  had  been  plunged  into  water,  which  demonstrates 
that  in  darkness  the  leaves  have  exhaled  mephitic  air,  while  in  the 
sun  they  exhaled  vital  air." — Count  Dandolo, 


NOTES. 


263 


Note  C  C.  page  143. 

Naturalists,  as  well  as  antiquarians,  were  formerly  prone  to  investi- 
gations which,  to  the  unenlightened  and  uninitiated,  might,  perhaps, 
appear  bordering  on  the  ridiculous.  It  would  seem  that,  in  their  cu- 
rious computations,  they  rather  sought  to  surpass  the  wonders  related 
by  some  rival  microscopic  observer,  than  to  adhere  to  the  rigidness  of 
mathematical  calculation,  or  keep  within  the  limits  of  rational  prob- 
ability. They,  indeed,  became  lost  and  bewildered  in  the  very  mi- 
nuteness of  their  subject.  M.  Leuwenhoek  has  computed,  that  a  hun- 
dred of  the  single  threads  of  a  full-grown  spider  are  not  equal  to  the 
diameter  of  one  single  hair  of  his  beard,  and  consequently  if  the 
threads  and  hair  be  both  round,  ten  thousand  threads  are  not  bigger 
than  such  a  hair  !  He  calculates  farther,  that  when  a  young  spider  be- 
gins to  spin,  four  hundred  of  these  are  not  larger  than  one  which  is 
of  full  growth,  allowing  which,  four  millions  of  the  single  filaments 
of  a  young  spider's  web  were  not  so  big  as  a  single  hair  of  his  beard  ! 

A  strange  calculation — very  probably  wrong  in  its  data,  and  most 
certainly  so  in  the  conclusions  deduced. 

Note  D  D.  page  152. 

According  to  Aristotle,  byssus  was  formed  from  the  beard  of  the 
pinna ;  but  the  name  appears  to  have  been  used  indiscriminately  by 
other  writers  for  any  material  that  was  spun,  and  the  quality  of  which 
was  finer  and  more  valuable  than  woollen  threads. 

Note  E  E.  page  153. 

The  fourth  volume  of  Nicholson's  Journal  of  Natural  Philosophy 
contains  a  memoir  on  the  insect  fly-carrier,  or  cassada-worm,  commu- 
nicated to  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  as  the  result  of  his 
own  observations  made  in  the  island  of  St.  Domingo,  by  M.  Baudry 
des  Lozieres.  The  insect  here  mentioned  is  not  itself  endowed  with 
the  faculty  of  producing  fibres,  and  yet  is  so  curiously  made  the 
depositary  of  a  substance  of  this  nature  by  other  animate  creatures, 
that  an  abridged  account  of  the  phenomenon  may  be  found  inter- 
esting. 

The  insect  fly-carrier  is,  like  the  silkworm,  produced  from  eggs  de- 
posited by  a  butterfly  of  a  whitish  or  light  pearl  color.  It  is  hatched 
about  the  latter  end  of  July,  and  its  development  is  so  rapid,  that  in 
September  the  worm  is  changed  into  a  butterfly.  It  first  comes  forth 
decked  in  a  robe  of  the  most  brilliant  and  variegated  colors,  differing 
in  this  respect  from  the  silkworm,  which  it  otherwise  resembles  in  ex- 
ternal shape.  It  feeds  upon  the  leaves  of  the  indigo  and  cassada 
plants ;  and  as  its  devouring  is  carried  forward  day  and  night  with 
scarcely  any  intermission,  the  ravages  which  it  commits  are  considered 
as  a  serious  evil  by  the  planters,  whose  attention  has,  for  this  reason, 
been  more  bestowed  upon  endeavors  to  destroy  it,  than  upon  consid- 
ering in  what  manner  to  derive  any  advantage  from  its  existence. 

In  the  month  of  August  the  worm  undergoes  one  of  its  changes,  and 
putting  off  the  beauteous  covering  wherein  it  first  exhibited  itself,  ap- 
pears of  only  one  color — a  sea-green — reflecting  all  the  shades  of  that 
color,  "  according  to  the  different  undulations  of  the  animal,  and  the 
different  accidents  of  light."   This  metamorphosis  is  the  signal  of  at- 


264 


Ts'OTES. 


tack  from  a  species  of  the  ichneumon  fly, — a  very  small  insect,  which 
has  obtained  this  name  through  the  benefit  it  renders  to  man  in  the 
destruction  of  various  hurtful  insects,  and  in  which  respect  it  is  per- 
haps equally  serviceable  with  the  quadruped  whose  name  it  has  thus 
been  made  to  bear,  and  which  demolishes  the  young  of  more  formi- 
dable though  less  numerous  reptiles.  These  flies  assail  the  cassada- 
worm  in  such  swarms,  that  it  is  affirmed  there  is  not  one  spot  on  its 
back  and  sides  left  visibly  uncovered  by  tb^m.  Proceeding  immedi- 
ately to  drive  the  stings  wherewith  they  are  armed  through  the  skin 
of  the  worm,  the  flies  deposit  their  eggs  in  the  bottoms  of  the  wounds 
they  inflict.  During  this  painful  operation,  the  cassada-worm  exhibits, 
all  the  signs  of  intense  suffering,  struggling  and  writhing,  and  using 
every  effort  to  shake  off  its  cruel  tormentors. 

So 'soon  as  the  flies  have  accomplished  their  object  in  safely  de 
positing  their  eggs,  they  disappear  ;  the  worm  seems  exhausted  with 
its  previous  efforts,  and  remains  for  about  an  hour  in  a  state  of  leth- 
argy, from  which,  however,  it  then  awakes,  to  feed  with  renewed 
avidity. 

In  about,  fourteen  days  after  having  thus  been  made  the  unwilling 
depositary  of  these  eggs,  and  during  which  time  the  worm  increases 
daily  in  size,  it  is  seen  to  be  completely  covered  with  a  living  robe  of 
animalculse,  having  a  deep  brown  color,  so  that  no  more  than  the  top 
of  its  head  can  be  perceived.  If  the  operations  of  these  newly- 
hatched  worms  are  then  carefully  examined,  it  will  be  seen  that  each, 
raising  itself  upon  its  hinder  extremity,  sw  ings  its  head  and  body  to 
and  fro  in  every  direction,  and  forms  for  itself  an  almost  imperceptibly 
small  egg-shaped  cocoon,  remaining,  like  the  silkworm,  in  the  interior 
of  the  ball ;  making  thus,  as  it  were,  its  own  winding-sheet,  and  seem- 
ing born  but  to  die. 

These  millions  upon  millions  of  cocoons,  as  they  are  described  by 
M.  des  Lozieres,  the  formation  of  which  has  not  occupied  a  greater 
space  of  time  than  two  hours,  are  placed  so  closely  together  that  they 
form  a  white  robe,  in  which  the  insect  fly-carrier  appears  elegantly 
clothed.  During  this  process  of  decoration  the  worm  remains  in  a 
state  of  torpidity;  but  no  sooner  is  the  robe  fully  completed,  than  the 
wearer  seeks  to  disencumber  itself  of  its  guests,  and,  after  efforts  of 
some  duration,  and  which  appear  greatly  to  exhaust  its  frame,  suc- 
ceeds in  the  endeavor.  Its  appetite  is  now  gone  ;  it  speedily  passes  to 
the  slate  of  a  chrysalis;  then  becomes  a  butterfly;  and,  after  giving 
birth  to  many  hundred  eggs,  appears  thus  to  have* fulfilled  the  end  of 
its  being,  and  dies. 

When  about  eight  days  have  elapsed  from  the  first  formation  of  the 
minute  cocoons  by  the  larvae,  ichneumon  flies  issue  from  these,  leaving 
the  fibrous  substance  pure,  beautifully  fine,  and  of  a  dazzling  white- 
ness. This,  without  any  previous  preparation,  may  be  immediately 
carded  and  spun.  According  to  the  opinion  expressed  by  M.  des 
Lozieres,  it  is  greatly  superior  in  every  respect  to  vegetable  cotton, 
while  in  some  particulars  it  is  even  preferable  to  the  produce  of  the 
silkworm;  requiring  less  of  time  and  trouble  for  its  production,  and 
being  greatly  more  abundant  in  its  produce. 

It  is  now,  however,  nearly  forty  years  since  the  observations  of  M. 
des  Lozieres  were  given  to*  the  world,  and  no  attempts  have  been 
made  to  realize  the  advantages  which  he  promised  from  the  pursuit. 


NOTES. 


265 


Note  F  F.  page  180. 

The  superior  fineness  of  some  Tndinn  muslins,  and  their  quality  of 
retaining,  longer  than  European  fabrics,  an  appearance  of  excellence, 
has  occasioned  a  belief  that  the  cotton  wool  of  which  they  are  woven 
is  superior  to  any  known  elsewhere:  this,  however,  is  so  far  from  be- 
ing the  fact,  that  no  cotton  is  to  be  found  in  India  which  at  all  equals 
in  quality  the  better  kinds  produced  in  the  United  States  of  America. 
The  excellence  of  India  muslins  must  be  wholly  ascribed  to  the  skil- 
fulness  and  patience  of  the  workmen,  as  shown  in  the  different  pro- 
cesses of  spinning  and  weaving.  Their  yarn  is  spun  upon  the  distaff, 
and  it  is  owing  to  the  dexterous  use  of  the  finger  and  thumb  in  form- 
ing the  thread*  and  to  the  moisture  which  it  thus  imbibes,  that  its 
fibres  are  more  perfectly  incorporated  than  they  can  be  through  the 
employment  of  any  mechanical  substitutes.  The  weaving  art  is  pur- 
sued to  such  an  extent  throughout  the  peninsula,  that,  according  to 
Mr.  Orme  (Historical  Fragments  of  the  Mogul  Empire),  "it  is  difficult, 
when  not  near  the  high  road,  or  a  principal  town,  to  find  a  village  in 
which  every  man,  woman,  and  child,  is  not  employed  in  making  a 
piece  of  cloth."  Among  the  multitudes  thus  trained  from  childhood 
to  the  pursuit  of  a  simple  occupation,  it  would  be  surprising  if  some 
individuals  did  not  attain  the  capability  of  producing  superior  fabrics. 
The  very  fine  muslins,  w  hich  thus  attest  the  proficiency  of  some  of 
the  Indians,  and  which  have  been  poetically  described  as  "  webs  of 
woven  wind,"  are,  however,  viewed  as  curiosities  even  in  the  country 
of  their  production,  and  are  made  only  in  small  quantities;  so  that  their 
use  is  limited,  almost  exclusively,  to  the  princes  of  the  land. 

Note  G  G.  page  206. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  various  branches  of  occupation  in  the  silk 
manufacture  are  carried  on  under  the  same  roof,  by  different  mem- 
bers of  the  same  family.  It  once  occurred  to  the  author  of  this 
treatise,  in  the  course  of  his  visits  among  the  operative  weavers  in  the 
district  of  Spitalfields,  to  visit  a  family  consisting  of  a  man,  his  wife, 
and  ten  children,  all  of  whom,  with  the  exception  of  the  two  youngest 
girls,  were  engaged  in  useful  employments  connected  with  the  silk 
manufacture. 

The  father,  assisted  by  one  of  his  sons,  was  occupied  w  ith  a  machine, 
such  as  is  mentioned  in  page  213,  punching  card  slips  from  figures 
which  another  son,  a  fine  intelligent  lad  about  thirteen  years  of  age, 
was  "  reading  on."  Two  other  lads,  somewhat  older,  were  in  another 
apartment,  casting,  drawing,  punching,  and  attaching  to  cords  the 
leaden  plummets  or  lingos,  which  form  part  of  the  harness  for  a  Jae- 
tjuard  loom.  The  mother  was  engaged  in  warping  silk,  with  a  ma- 
chine similar  to  that  described  hy  jig.  7.  page  155.  One  of  the  daugh- 
ters was  similarly  employed  at  another  machine,  and  three  other  girls 
were  in  three  separate  looms,  weaving  figured  silks,  one  by  the  aid 
of  the  mechanical  drawT-boy,  described  at  page  190,  the  others  with 
Jacquard  machines. 

An  air  of  order  and  cheerfulness  prevailed,  throughout  this  busy 
establishment  that  was  truly  gratifying ;  and,  with  the  exception  of 
the  plummet-drawers,  all  were  clean  and  neatly  clad.  The  particular 
occupation  wherein  each  was  engaged,  was  explained  most  readily, 

X 


266 


NOTES. 


and  with  a  degree  of  genuine  politeness,  which  proved,  that  amid  the 
harassing  cares  attendant  upon  daily  toils  of  no  ordinary  degree,  these 
parents  had  not  been  unmindful  of  their  duty,  as  regarded  the  culti- 
vation of  their  children's  minds  and  hearts. 

Note  H  H.  page  248. 

Material  substances  have  generally  been  divided  into  two  classes, 
electrics  and  non-electrics  ;  which  distinction,  if  taken  strictly,  is  not 
correct :  there  is  no  positive  line  of  demarcation  between  the  two. 
There  is  not  any  electric  or  non-conducting  substance  that  is  a  perfect 
insulator;  neither  is  there  any  non-electric  or  conducting  substance 
that  cannot,  by  friction,  be  made  capable  of  exhibiting  electrical  phe- 
nomena. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Addison,  236. 

Alexander  the  Great,  brought 
wrought  silks  from  Persia,  17. 

Allen,  Mrs.,  of  Wandsworth,  141. 

Amasis,  king,  194. 

Anderson,  Dr.  James,  introduces 
mulberry  trees  at  Madras ;  pro- 
cures silkworms'  eggs  from  Ben- 
gal; his  success,  41.  His  account 
of  the  evolutions  of  the  silk- 
worm, 101. 

Anglicanae  guttae,  145. 

Antonius,  Marcus,  the  emperor, 
sends  ambassadors  to  China,  19. 

Antwerp,  great  trade  existing  in 
silk  at;  city  of,  31.  Taken  by 
the  duke  of  Parma,  governor  of 
the  Spanish  Netherlands,  32. 

Appleton,  John,  Esq.,  a  patent 
granted  to,  for  producing  raw 
silk  of  the  growth  of  England, 
37. 

Arbors  formed  of  twigs,  for  spin- 
ning, 120. 

Ardeche,  white  silk  produced  in  ; 
purchased  by  the  manufacturers 
of  Normandy,  164. 

Aristotle,  preceptor  of  Alexander 
the  Great,  his  account  of  the 
silkworm,  17.  His  description 
of  the  pinna,  151. 

Asia,  the  number  of  broods  of  silk- 
worms annually  reared  in,  91. 

Aston,  Walter,  a  grant  made  to 
him  of  the  custody  of  the  gar- 
den, mulberry  trees,  and  silk- 
worms, near  St.  James's,  in  Mid- 
dlesex, 37. 

Augustus,  silk  little  known  in  Eu- 
rope previous  to  the  reign  of,  18. 

Aurelian,  emperor,  19. 

B. 

Bacon,  lord,  56. 

Baichu,  a  rebel,  makes  himself 


master  of  most  part  of  the  Chi- 
nese empire;  massacres  all  the 
;  inhabitants  of  the  port  of  Canfu, 
the  resort  of  foreign  merchants, 
24. 

Banks,  Sir  Joseph,  41. 
Barham,  Mr.  Henry,  publishes  an 

essay  on  the  silkworm,  38. 
Basle,  the  manufacture  of  ribands 
becomes  very  considerable  in,  54. 
Baume,  M.,  his  manner  of  bleach- 
ing silk,  243. 
Bellardi,  Dr.  Lodovico,  of  Turin, 

experiment  of,  137. 
Bengal,  a  quantity  of  raw  silk  im- 
ported into  England  from ;  qual- 
ity of,  considered  very  inferior  to 
that  produced  in  Italy  and  Tur- 
key, 67.    Improvement  in  the 
quality  of,  68.    Country  wound 
and  filature,  ib. 
Berne,  silk  for  umbrellas  manufac- 
tured in,  54. 
Bertezen,   Mr.  Salvator,  a  gold 
medal  adjudged  to  him  by  the 
Society  of  Arts,  129. 
Blanchard,  Mons.,  experiment  of, 
134. 

Bologna,  the  only  city  of  Italy  that 
possessed  proper  throwing  mills, 
28. 

Bombazine,  manufacture  of,  con- 
fined to  the  city  of  Norwich,  241. 
Bombykia,  stuff  produced  from  the 

silkworm,  16. 
Bombyx,  the  silkworm,  16. 
Bon,  Mons.,  collects  a  quantity  of 
spiders'  bags,  from  which  a  kind 
of  silk  is  made,  said  to  be  not 
inferior  to  that  made  from  the 
bombyx,  143.    Great  compara- 
tive advantages  adduced  by  him 
of  his  spider  establishment,  144. 
Bonoeil,  Mr.  John,  a  work  by,  on 
the  management  of  the  silk- 
worm, 37. 


268 


INDEX. 


Bouillon,  Godfrey  de,  29. 

Bourgeois,  Mons.,  observations  of, 
on  engrafting,  90. 

Briance,  silk  of,  1G4. 

British  dominions,  another  attempt 
made  to  produce  silk  in  the ;  a 
company  incorporated  under  the 
title  of  "  British,  Irish,  and  Co- 
lonial Silk  Company,"  44. 

Brocade,  gold  and  silver,  metallic 
threads  used  in  the  making  of, 
232.  Gilt  copper  wire  used  in 
the  spinning  at  Nuremberg,  ib. 
Gilt  and  silver  slips  of  paper  used 
by  the  Chinese,  ib. 

Burlemach,  Mr.,  a  London  mer- 
chant, brought  from  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe  silk  throwsters, 
dyers,  and  broad  weavers,  56. 

C. 

Canfu,  port  of,  becomes  the  resort 
of  foreign  merchants,  24. 

Carolina,  South,  silkworms  reared 
in,  38. 

Card-slips  perforated,  different  pat- 
terns made  by;  advantages  aris- 
ing to  the  owner,  206.  The 
same  set  made  to  answer  two 
distinct  patterns,  207. 

Cart wright,  Rev.  Edmund,  D.  D., 
invention  of  the  power-loom  by : 
.  obtains  a  weaving  patent ;  erects 
a  weaving-mill  at  Doncaster; 
obtains  three  other  patents ; 
compelled  to  abandon  his  man- 
ufactory, 218.  A  sum  of  money 
voted  by  parliament  as  a  compen- 
sation for  his  loss  and  disappoint- 
ment, 219. 

Castracani,  Castruccio,  233. 

Caterpillar,  the  first  state  of  the 
silkworm,  95. 

Catherine,  empress  of  Russia,  41. 

Chazal,  Mons.,  distributes  silk- 
worms to  many  of  the  colonists 
in  the  Isle  of  France;  claims  the 
premium  which  was  promised 
by  the  Society  of  Arts  lor  the 
growth  of  silk  in  the  British 
colonies;  obtains  a  large  gold 
medal,  43.  Number  of  genera- 
tions of  worms  annually  obtain- 
ed by,  in  the  Isle  of  France,  92. 

Charlemagne,  emperor,  sends  two 


silken  vests  to  Offa  king  of  Mer* 

cia,  24. 

Charles  I.  of  England,  issues  a  pro- 
clamation as  to  the  manner  and 
ingredients  to  be  used  for  dyeing 

siik,  56. 

Chartron,  MM.,  pere  et  fils,  silk 

establishment  of,  176. 
Che-kiang,  27. 

China,  enjoyed  the  use  of  silk  an- 
terior to  its  introduction  else- 
where; the  labors  of  the  silk- 
worm known  in,  15.  Enormous 
quantity  of  silk  in ;  climate  of, 
congenial  to  the  silkworm  ;  prov- 
inces of,  fertile  with  mulberry 
trees ;  called  by  the  ancients  the 
Kingdom  of  Silk,  26.  Possesses 
all  the  necessaries  and  comforts, 
and  even  the  luxuries,  of  life, 
27.  Silk  of,  remarkable  for  its 
brilliant  whiteness,  68.  Number 
of  crops  of  silk  obtained  in  the 
year  in,  91. 
Chlorine  gas,  fumigation  with,  135. 
Chloride  of  lime,  135. 
Chappe,  245. 

Chosroes  king  of  Persia,  his  recep- 
tion of  the  Turkish  ambassador, 
23. 

Choquettes,  128. 

Christians,  the  expulsion  of,  from 

Syria,  29. 
Chrysalides,  destruction  of,  in  Chi- 
na, 111.  Method  of  destroying 
the  vitality  of,  by  the  solar  rays ; 
in  ovens ;  by  steam  heat,  125.' 
Chrysalis,  second  state  of  the  silk- 
worm, 101.  Time  of  its  appearing 
as  a  moth,  103. 
Cocoons,  15.  Silkworm  pods,  28. 
System  lately  adopted  in  India 
for  giving  the  necessary  degree 
|  of  heat  to,  while  being  wound, 
by  means  of  steam,  69.  The 
manner  of  reeling  the  silk  off, 
100.  Double,  formed  by  the 
worm  not  having  sufficient 
space ;  method  of  gathering,  124. 
Selecting  for  breed,  ib.  Quan- 
tity selected  for  breed;  method 
of  preserving;  necessity  of  se- 
parating damaged  from  others 
with  which  they  are  in  contact, 
127.    Good;  pointed;  calcined  ; 


269 


cAirfit-1^.;  "Kdc4ive  valve  of; 
proportion"  dfjfrare'  silk  in";  per- 
forated, 129.  Proportional  weight 
of  eggs,  mid  of  mulberry.leayes, 

130.  Quantity  of  reeled  silk 
that  can  be  obtained  from>eLa?b>, 
ib.  Regulation'  of  temperature 
necessary  for  producing  the 
moths  from ;  weight  and  size  of, 

131.  Necessity  of  classing  the 
different  kinds  of,  155.  Coloring 
matter  of,  243. 

Coconieres,  127. 

Cocolons  require  the  greatest  care 
in  reeling,  154. 

Colbert,  Mons.,  minister  of  Louis 
XIV.  of  France,  gives  mulberry 
trees  from  the  royal  nurseries; 
causes  them  to  be  removed  and 
planted  at  the  expense  of  gov- 
ernment, 35. 

Constantinople,  silkworms  un- 
known in,  until  the  middle  of  the 
sixth  century,  17.  Silkworms 
introduced  into,  21. 

Cordova,  30. 

Cotton-plant,  cultivation  of,  in 
Georgia,  39. 

Coventry,  riband-weavers  of,  peti- 
tion the  legislature,  69.  The 
principal  seat  of  the  riband  man- 
ufacture of  England,  190. 

Coge,  Mademoiselle,  of  Epinal, 
used  with  success  the  leaves  of 
the  scorzonera  for  the  nourish- 
ment of  the  silkworm,  140. 

Crape,  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
made,  240. 

Crevelt,  in  Prussia,  manufactories 
of  ribands  and  broad  velvets  es- 
tablished in,  54. 


Damask  silk,  the  early  introduction 
of  it  into  England  ;  principally 
confined  to  the  use  of  the  high- 
born ;  used  for  garments  and  or- 
namental furniture,  237.  Origin- 
ally brought  from  Damascus,  ib. 
The  mode  1n  which  it  is  manu- 
factured, 238. 

Damasquitte,  a  modification  of 
brocade,  invented  by  the  Vene- 
tians, 233. 

Dandolieres,  establishments  formed 
X 


!  is  \V)rii'bar<]y.  according  to  the 
:'  "recommendation  of  count  Dan- 

dolo,  133. 
JVii'dokk  Count  his  opinion  as  to 
;   o^taiuing  m^i  e  thin  one  crop  of 
s?Jk  ji*  th$  y  ear,  92^  His  account 
of  the  various  changes  of  the 
silkworm,    101.  Recommends 
the  use  of  stoves  for  heating  the 
apartments  in  which  eggs  are 
hatched,   115.    His  mode  of 
treating  the  silkworm  set  forth 
in  his  writings,  133. 
Diggs,  Mr.  Edward,  37. 
Draw-boy,  a  description  of,  198. 
Manner  of  working  it,  ib.  Va- 
rious improvements  of,  200. 
Draw-loom,  197. 
Ducapes,  a  kind  of  silk,  239. 
Duff;  Mr.,  200. 

Du  Halde,  his  account  of  the  Chi- 
nese manner  of  pruning  and 
placing  their  mulberry  trees,  90. 
Dupin,  Baron  Charles,  his  re- 
searches into  all  subjects  con- 
nected with  commercial  ques- 
tions, 82. 

E. 

Eggs  of  the  silkworm,  brought  by 
two  Persian  missionaries  from 
China ;  hatched  by  the  warmth 
of  manure,  21.  A  description 
of ;  the  number  of,  produced  by 
the  female  moth,  105.  Chinese 
mode  of  delaying  the  hatching 
of,  109.  The  proper  choice  of, 
the  first  care  of  the  cultivator, 
114.  How  to  choose  them,  ib. 
Egypt,  the  government  of,  imposes 
heavy  duties  on  the  transit  of 
merchandise,  29. 
Elasbaan,  king  of  Axuma,  20. 
Elizabeth,  queen  of  England,  pre- 
sented by  Mrs.  Montague,  her 
silkwoman,  wTith  a  pair  of  knit 
silk  stockings,  32. 
England,  imports  a  vast  quantity 
of  raw  and  wrought  silk  from 
China,  47.  Silks  manufactured 
in,  not  inferior  in  quality  to 
those  of  France,  83.  Recent 
attempt  to  rear  silkworms  in,  140, 
Eperic,  Abbe,  the,  of  Carpentras, 
experiment  of,  134. 


270 


Esircipr-sers,  governor!  ofmeile-m- ' 
erftes^  in 'Arabia  Felix,  20. 

F.  ...... 

Farquhar,  Sir  Kobe^t,,  appointed 
governor  of'the  Mauritius.;  pro- 
cures silkworms' egg's  from  Ben- 
gal, 42. 

Ferdinand  V.,  conquers  Grenada ; 
finds  numerous  establishments 
for  the  production  of  silk,  30. 

Filature,  a  description  of  the  build- 
ing designed  for,  154. 

Florence,  silk  manufacture  exten- 
sively followed  at,  28. 

France,  first  introduction  of  the 
silk  manufacture  there,  26.  De- 
rives considerable  wealth  from 
prosecuting  the  silk  trade  with 
England,  30.  The  growth  of 
silk  confined  exclusively  to  the 
southern  provinces,  47.  Pro- 
hibits the  exportation  of  raw 
silk,  51.  Commercial  treaty 
with  England,  60.  Comparative 
statement  of  cost  of  manufacture 
there  and  in  England,  81.  Low 
wages  paid  to  silk  throwsters 
for  labor,  176. 

Francis  I.  of  France,  the  manufac- 
ture of  silk  took  root  in  France 
during  his  reign,  26. 

Franklin,  Dr.,  123. 

Frederick  William,  grand  elector 
of  Brandenberg,  42. 

Friuli,  a  large  species  of  silkworm 
to  be  found  in  ;  produce  yielded 
by  them,  108. 

G. 

Gauze,  supposed  first  to  have  been 
made  in  Gaza,  a  city  of  Pales- 
tine, from  which  it  derives  its 
name,  229.  Principally  carried 
on  at  Paisley  ;  mode  of  weaving 
described,  ib.  Difficulty  attend- 
ing it;  superiority  of  French 
gauze,  231. 

Genoa,  31. 

Georgia,  silkworms  reared  in,  38. 
The  production  of  silk  discon- 
tinued in,  39. 

Greece,  the  emperors  of,  no  longer 
obliged  to  have  recourse  to  Per- 
sia for  silk,  23. 


GrekhenX,  S»r  Tl^ma?,,  presents 
E'd  warcf  VI?  w'it'h  a  pair'of  Ibng 
Spanish  silk  stockings,  32. 
Grjmshaw,  Pobert,  and  sons,  of 
Manchester,  erect  i  a  weaving 
factory  ;  enter  into  an  agreement 
with  Dr.  (Jartwright  to  use  his 
patent,  219.    Their  factory  de- 
stroyed by  fire,  ib. 
Gros-de-naples,  a  kind  of  silk,  239. 
Gros-des-indes,  peculiarity  of  struc- 
ture, 240. 
Guicciardini,  his  account  of  the 
trade  of  Antwerp,  31. 

EL 

Hasselquist,    Dr.,    observes  the 

habits  of  the  pinna,  151. 
Hatching,  95.  Method  of,  in  China, 
described,  109.  Method  pursued 
in  Italy,  114. 
Heintz,  Baron,  Prussian  minister 
of  state,  cultivates  the  mulberry 
tree,  and  produces  silk  upon  his 
estate,  42. 
Heliogabalus  habits  himself  wholly 
in  silk ;  this  is  recorded  as  an 
act  of  wanton  prodigality,  19. 
Henry  V.  of  England,  his  invasion 

of  France,  29. 
Henry  VIII.  of  England,  occasion- 
ally obtained  silk  stockings  from 
Spain,  32. 
Henry  IV.  of  France,  encourages 
the  silk  manufacture,  and  incites 
the  Parisians  to  establish  silk 
manufactories ;    grants  letters 
patent,  conferring  on  success  and 
perseverance  the  titles  of  no- 
bility, 34.    Establishes  nurseries 
of  mulberry  trees,  35. 
Herodotus  speaks  of  figure-weav- 
ing, 194. 
Hoang-tee,  15. 

Howell,  his  history  of  the  world, 
31. 

Hughes,  a  silk-weaver,  improves 
the  draw-boy,  200.  His  improve- 
ment in  card-slips  for  the  Jac* 
quard  machine,  207. 

I. 

India,  East,  Company,  establish- 
ments for  producing  raw  and 
wrought  silk  in  the  territories 


INDEX. 


271 


of,  40.    Different  qualities  pro- 
duced in  different  districts,  68.  ] 
The  kind  of  building  employed 
in  India  for  rearing  silkworms, 
111. 

Ireland,  an  endeavor  made  to  rear 
siik worms  in,  44.  This  attempt 
abandoned,  and  why,  45. 

Isidorus,   bishop  of  Hispalis,  in 
Spain,  his  ignorance  of  the  silk-  '. 
worm,  and  misrepresentations 
concerning  the  manufacture  of 
silk,  18. 

Isnard  on  the  culture  of  silk  ;  his  ', 
authority  long  considered  un-  '. 
questionable,  113. 

J. 

Jacquard,  M.,  a  practical  weaver  '. 
of  Lyons,  the  inventor  of  the 
Jacquard  loom,  201. 

Jacquard  loom,  the,  a  description  [ 
of,  202.  Alteration  and  improve- 
ment of,  noticed  and  rewarded 
by  the  Society  of  Arts,  208.  An- 
other alteration  and  improve- 
ment of,  209.  Obstacles  to  its 
original  introduction  into  Lyons, 
211. 

James  I.  of  England,  repeals  the 
statute  forbidding  the  English 
citizens  to  wear  silk,  31.  En- 
deavors to  introduce  the  rearing 
of  silkworms  in  England,  35. 
And  into  his  American  colonies, 
36. 

Jennings,  Mr.,  his  improvements  of 
the  Jacquard  machine,  209. 

Jones,  an  engine  maker,  improves 
the  draw-boy,  200. 

Justinian,  Emperor,  15.  Sends  em- 
bassies to  Elasbaan,  king  of 
Axuma  and  Esimiphaeus ;  injures 
the  silk  trade  by  heavy  duties, 
20.  Takes  the  manufacture  of 
silk  into  his  own  hands,  22. 

K. 

Keyslar,  his  account  of  the  estima- 
tion in  which  English  silk  stock- 
ings were  held  at  Naples,  in  1730, 
33 

Kos,  the  island  of,  silk  manufac- 
tured in,  at  an  early  period,  16. 


Xj. 

Lea,  Rev.  William,  of  St.  John's 
college,  Cambridge,  inventor  of 
the  stocking  frame,  33.  Goes  to 
France  by  the  invitation  of 
Henry  IV.,  accompanied  by  sev- 
eral journeymen ;  establishes  his 
looms  at  Rouen;  abandons  his 
establishments ;  dies  in  Paris,  ib. 
Lemery,  his  commentary  on 
Pomet's  work,  114.  Asserts  that 
silkworms  have  a  medicinal  vir- 
-  tue,  247. 

Levantine,  a  kind  of  silk,  240. 
Linn  sus  enumerates  seven  distinct 
species  of  the  mulberry  tree,  86. 
Locke  notices  the  use  of  damask  as 

an  unwarrantable  luxury,  238. 
Lombe,  Mr.,  of  Derby,  erects  a 
stupendous  throwing  mill  on  the 
river  Derwent,  at  Derby,  61. 
London,  the  nursery  of  the  infant 
branches  of  the  silk  manufac- 
ture, 73.  A  silk  manufacturer 
of,  a  comparative  statement  of 
the  cost  of  gros-de-naples  at  Ly- 
ons and  in  London,  drawn  up 
by,  81. 

Loom,  the  simple,  used  in  weaving 
plain  silks,  described,  180.  Mode 
of  its  action,  181.  Mounting  the 
loom  described,  184. 
Loom  engine,  Dutch,  a  description 
of,  189.    Chiefly  used  in  Cov- 
entry, 190. 
Louis  XI.  said  to  have  first  intro- 
duced silk  into  France,  30. 
Lucca,  brocades  manufactured  in, 

233. 
Lustres,  241. 

Lyons,  the  greatest  silk  manufac- 
turing city  of  France,  47.  Low 
rate  of  wages  paid  for  labor  in, 
176. 

M. 

Machiavel,  his  Memoirs  of  Cas- 

truccio  Castracani,  233. 
Malpighius,  his  "  Anatomy  of  the 
Silkworm,"  101. 
,  Malta,  the  island  of,  an  establish- 
ment for  the  produce  of  silk  in  ; 
attended  with  success,  44. 
Maniak,  a  Sogdian  prince,  sent  as 


272 


INDEX. 


ambassador  to  the  king  of  Persia, 
23. 

Marcellinus  Ammianus,  his  de- 
scription of  the  Seres,  16. 

Margaret,  daughter  of  Henry  III. 
of  England,  marriage  of,  with 
Alexander  III.  of  Scotland ; 
English  knights  appeared  at  the 
nuptials  in  cointises  of  silk,  26. 

Mary,  queen  of  England,  makes  a 
law  prohibiting  the  middle  clas- 
ses of  English  citizens  from 
wearing  silk,  31. 

Mayet,  his  work  on  the  culture  of 
silk  in  the  Prussian  dominions, 
42.  His  remarks  on  the  mulberry 
tree,  88. 

Mephitic  air,  prejudicial  to  silk- 
worms, 133. 

Mezeray  relates  attempts  made  to 
breed  silkworms  in  and  near 
Paris,  34. 

Milan,  trade  of,  with  Antwerp,  31. 

Mills,  throwing,  constructed  and 
worked  in  several  cities  of  Italy, 
28.  Introduced  in  England,  61. 
Description  of  machinery,  166. 
Improved  construction  of  those 
recently  erected  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  London,  175.  Great 
improvements  of,  in  England,  not 
adopted  in  other  countries,  176. 

Modena,  silkworms  reared  in,  yield 
a  revenue  to  the  state;  its  silk 
once  esteemed  the  best  in  Lom- 
bardy,  28. 

Monteith,  Mr.,  of  Pollockshaw, 
near  Glasgow,  erects  the  first 
power-loom  that  was  applied  to 
the  weaving  of  cotton  fabrics, 
219. 

Montpelier  drops,  prepared  from 
spider  silk,  145. 

Moth,  a  description  of  the  coming 
forth  of  the ;  manner  of  its  ex- 
trication, 104.  The  time  it  is- 
sues from  its  concealment,  131. 

Moulting  of  silkworms  described, 
97. 

Mulberry  trees,  destruction  of,  in 
China,  24.  Cultivation  of,  in 
France,  first  confined  to  Pro- 
vence, 35.  Cultivation  of,  in 
Dauphine,  Languedoc,  Vivarais, 
Lyonnois,  Gascony,  and  Saint- 


onge,  ib.  A  considerable  num- 
ber of  white  mulberry  trees 
planted  in  America,  40.  Growth 
of,  in  Malta,  greater  than  in 
Italy  ;  growth  of  in  St.  Helena, 
45.  On  the  culture  of ;  different 
species  of,  described,  86.  White 
mulberry  planted  in  Europe ; 
came  originally  from  China ; 
tinctoria  mulberry  not  used  for 
the  nourishment  of  the  silkworm, 
ib.  Soil  and  situation  most  fa- 
vorable for,  88.  Manner  of 
raising  it  from  layers,  from  seed, 
from  cuttings,  89.  Chinese  man- 
ner of  pruning  and  placing,  90.. 
Ingrafting  the  surest  method  of 
obtaining  nutritious  leaves  from, 
ib.  Nutritive  qualities  of,  92. 
The  manner  of  preserving  the 
leaves ;  the  quantity  which  may 
be  taken  from  one  tree  in  each 
year,  93.  This  tree  sacred  to 
the  silkworm,  94. 
Muscle,  the,  called  the  caterpillar 
of  the  sea,  147.  The  power  it 
possesses  of  continually  pro- 
ducing new  threads,  148.  Silk 
produced  from,  149. 
Murcia,  silk  manufacturers  there, 
30. 

N. 

Nan-kin,  in  China,  its  inexhaustible 

abundance  of  silk,  27. 
Nantes,  the  edict  of  the  revocation 
of,  58.  Some  of  the  consequences 
of  that  measure,  ib. 
Naples,  its  trade  with  Antwerp,  31. 
Neumann,  his  chemical  examina- 
tion of  silk,  246. 
Nollet,  Mons.,  his  account  of  the 

culture  of  silk  in  Tuscany,  91. 
Norwich,  celebrated  for  its  manu- 
facture of  shawls,  242. 

O. 

Oppianus,  the  Greek  poet,  descrip- 
tion of  the  pinna  by,  151. 
Organzine,  its  principal  use,  166. 
Organzining,  expense  of,  in  France  ; 
in  London ;  waste  in  the  process 
of  making  it,  177. 
Ortolengi,  an  Italian  gentleman, 
sent  to  Georgia  to  instruct  the 


INDEX. 


273 


colonists  in  the  Italian  mode  of 
producing  silk,  38. 

P. 

Pamphila  converts  the  silks  of  the 
Seres  into  transparent  gauze,  16. 

Paris,  mulberry  trees  planted  near, 
34. 

Park,  Chelsea,  planted  with  mul- 
berry trees,  37. 
Parliament,  an  act  of,  passed  in 
1765,  prohibiting  the  importation 
of  various  descriptions  of  foreign 
silk  goods  into  England,  64. 
Peter  the  Great,  of  Russia,  causes 
mulberry  trees  to  be  planted  and 
cultivated  in  his  dominions,  41. 
Persia,  for  centuries  the  channel  of 
communication  between  Rome 
and  China ;  its  monopoly  of  the 
silk  trade  with  India  and  China, 
19.    Furnishes  silks  to  the  in- 
habitants of  Constantinople,  20. 
Two  monks  sent  to  China  from ; 
they  discover  the  labors  of  the 
silkworm,  21.    Unite  with  the 
Chinese  against  the  Turks,  23. 
°ersian,  a  very  slight  description 

of  silk,  239. 
Piedmont,  regulations  and  restric- 
tions in,  for  procuring  regularity 
in  size,  and  uniformity  in  the 
working  of  machines  employed 
for  reeling  silk,  163.  Govern- 
ment of,  the  oppressiveness  and 
impolicv  of,  164. 
Pinna,  a  adscript  ion  of,  called  the 
silkworm  of  the  sea,  147.  Spin- 
ning organ  of,  148.  Manner  of 
forming  its  threads  different  from 
land  insects,  149.  "Its  cancer 
friend,"  made  the  subject  of 
poetry,  150.  The  nature  of  their 
alliance ;  these  fish  found  on  the 
coast  of  Provence  and  Italy,  and 
in  the  Indian  Ocean,  ib.  Manner 
of  taking  it;  the  threads  of, 
known  to  the  ancients,  152. 
Pinnotores,  a  small  species  of  crab, 
151. 

Pliny  asserts  the  silkworm  to  be  a 
native  of  Kos,  16.  His  account 
of  the  silkworm,  18.  His  de- 
scription of  the  pinna,  151. 


Polo,  Marco,  his  account  of  Cam- 
balu,  the  royal  city  of  Persia,  26. 
Pomier,  Mons.,  a  treatise  written 

by  him  on  engrafting,  91. 
Pope,  mention  made  by  him  of 

brocade,  236. 
Poplins,  the  best  quality  of,  manu- 
factured in  Dublin,  242. 
Pomet,  chief  druggist  to  Louis  le 

Grand,  113. 
Power-loom,  216.  Constructed  by 
Mr.  Austin  of  Glasgow,  a  model 
of  which  is  placed  in  the  repos- 
itory of  the  Society  of  Arts ;  a 
description  of,  220.  Mode  of  its 
action,  ib.  Hand  power-looms, 
223.  Mr.  Sadler's  invention,  ib. 
Reasons  against  the  use  of  power- 
looms  in  silk  weaving,  224. 
Pullein,  his  directions  for  saving 
and  preparing  the  seed  of  the 
mulberry  tree,  88.  An  experi- 
ment by  him,  94. 

R. 

Reaumur,  M.,  the  celebrated  natu- 
ralist, 142.    Appointed  by  the 
Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  at 
Paris,  to  inquire  into  the  merits 
of  silk  produced  by  spiders ;  the 
result  of  his  investigation,  145. 
His  observations  on  muscles,  148. 
Reel,  a  description  of  the,  155. 
Reeling  described,  154.  Establish- 
ments in  France  for  the  purpose, 
inferior  to  those  of  Italy,  163. 
Rhodes,  Miss,  of  Yorkshire,  131. 
Her  experiment  of  feeding  silk- 
worms on  lettuce  leaves,  139. 
Ribands,  plain,  manner  of  weaving, 
189.  Great  improvement  in,  191. 
Equal  to  the  finest  description  of 
foreign  make,  ib. 
Richards,  an  ingenious  silk  weaver, 

improves  the  draw-boy,  200. 
Roger  I.  king  of  Sicily,  leads  into 
captivity  a  considerable  number 
of  Greek  silk  weavers,  whom  he 
settled  in  Palermo,  25. 
Romans,  supply  most  other  parts 
of  Europe  with  silk;  possess  the 
breed  of  silkworms,  which  had 
been  transferred  600  years  be> 


274 


INDEX. 


fore  from  the  remotest  part  of  the 
East,  25. 

Rome,  the  high  price  of  silk  in,  19. 

Rozier,  Mons.,  experiments  of,  122. 
Recommends  the  use  of  metallic 
conductors  in  silkworms'  apart- 
ments, 123. 

Russia,  establishments  in,  for  man- 
ufacturing silk  of  native  produc- 
tion, 42. 

S. 

Sanuto,  Marino,  a  Venetian,  pub- 
lishes a  work  entitled  "  Secrets 
of  the  Faithful,"  29. 

Sardinia,  king  of,  prohibits  the  ex- 
portation of  raw  silk,  62. 

Sarsnet,  description  of,  239. 

Satin,  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
made,  239. 

Sauvagues,  Bossier  de,  his  experi- 
ments as  to  the  degree  of  heat 
which  the  silkworm  can  bear, 
102. 

ScharThausen,  silk  manufactured 
in,  54. 

Scuttleflsh  a  deadly  foe  of  the 
pinna,  150. 

Se,  the  name  for  silk  in  the  Chi- 
nese language,  15. 

See-ling-shee,  consort  of  Hoang- 
tee,  her  observations  on  the  silk 
produced  by  the  worm,  15. 

Seres,  the  designation  given  by  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  to  the  in- 
habitants of  Sereinda,  15. 

Serica  identical  with  Sereinda,  15. 

Sereinda,  part  of  India  lying  be- 
yond the  Ganges,  15. 

Sericum,  or  silk,  various  accounts 
given  by  several  writers  as  to 
how  it  is  produced,  18.  Appro- 
priated in  Rome  wholly  to  wo- 
men of  rank,  ib. 

Shuttle,  a  description  of,  185. 

Shuttle-box  described,  195. 

Sicily,  island  of,  quantity  of  silk  ex- 
ported annually  from,  52. 

Singles,  the  most  simple  process  in 
silk  throwing,  166. 

Smuggling,  impossible  to  be  pre- 
vented, 77.    Moral  evils  attend- 
ing it,  78. 
Sogdians  wish  to  supply  Persia 

with  silk,  23. 
Solomon's    temple,   no  mention 


made  of  silk  in  the  embellish- 
ment of,  17. 

Souflons,  imperfect  cocoons,  128. 

Spain,  its  progress  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  silk,  30. 

Spitalfields,  a  number  of  French 
emigrants  settle  in,  58. 

Spinning  of  silkworms,  prepara- 
tions for,  111. 

Spiders,  manner  of  producing  their 
webs;  the  power  they  possess 
of  producing  threads  of  different 
degrees  of  tenuity,  142.  Bags, 
143.  Small  produce  of  silk 
from,  146. 

Staunton,  Sir  George,  his  account 
of  the  silk  manufacture  in  China, 
46. 

St.  George,  the  military  order  of, 
the  first  riband  that  was  attached 
to  the  decoration  of,  manufac- 
tured from  the  produce  of  the 
Achtouba  colony  in  Russia,  42. 

St.  Helena,  island  of,  silkworms' 
eggs  sent  to,  45. 

Stockholm  Journal  gives  an  ac- 
count of  the  growth  of  silk  in 
Sweden,  43. 

Stove-rooms,  use  of,  115.  Temper- 
ature of,  ib. 

St.  Pierre,  Louis  de,  brings  to  per- 
fection the  art  of  making  wine, 
and  the  production  of  silk  at 
New  Bordeaux  in  Carolina ;  no- 
ticed by  the  Society  of  Arts ; 
presented  by  them  with  their 
gold  medal,  and  a  premium  of 
501,  39. 

Silk,  time  of  its  earliest  use  un- 
known ;  first  adopted  in  the  East, 
14.  Extensive  manufacture  of, 
in  Persia,  Tyre,  and  Berytus,  16. 
Wrought  silk  brought  from  Per- 
sia by  Alexander  the  Great,  17. 
Little  known  in  Europe  before 
the  reign  of  Augustus;  highly 
prized  by  the  Romans,  18.  Heavy 
duties  laid  on  by  the  emperor 
Justinian  ;  rises  in  price  in  Con- 
stantinople, 20.  Trade  in,  de- 
stroyed by  Baichu,  24.  Adopted 
in  England  shortly  after  the  con- 
quest; successful  establishment 
of,  in  Sicily,  26.  First  introduced 
into  France  by  Louis  XI. ;  nu» 


INDEX 


275 


merous  establishments  for  the 
production  of,  in  Granada,  30. 
Improvement  of,  in  England,  31. 
Becomes  of  national  importance, 
32.  A  very  general  manufacture 
in  France,  34.  An  act  passed 
for  encouraging  the  growth  of 
colonial,  38.  An  attempt  to  pro- 
duce silk  in  England,  44.  Growth 
of,  in  Sweden,  43.  The  greatest 
quantity  of,  produced  in  Nan- 
kin, 46.  Growth  of,  confined  to 
the  southern  provinces  of  France; 
amount  of,  imported  into  Eng- 
land from  China,  47.  Prohibi- 
tion of  the  exportation  of,  from 
France,  51.  Raw  silk  imported 
through  France  from  Italy  into 
England,  ib.  Lustrings  and 
alamodes  brought  to  great  per- 
fection in  England ;  various 
kinds  of,  introduced  by  the 
French  emigrants  into  England, 
58.  High  duty  on,  abandoned, 
71.  Consequent  great  improve- 
ments in  the  manufacture  of,  72. 
Duties  chargeable  upon  the  im- 
portation oft  84.  Number  of 
broods  obtained  in  the  year  in 
China,  91.  Attempts  to  produce 
silk  from  different  animals,  141. 
Made  from  spiders'  bags,  man- 
ner of  preparing,  143.  Italian 
thrown,  high  protecting  duty  on 
the  importation  of;  reduction  of 
duty  on,  174.  English  thrown, 
improved  quality,  175.  Manner 
of  watering ;  of  embossing,  240, 
241.  Process  for  bleaching,  243. 
Chemical  properties  of,  246.  A 
protection  against  malaria;  for- 
merly used  as  a  medicine,  247. 
The  electric  properties  of,  how 
first  discovered,  248. 
Silkworm,  the  labors  of,  wholly 
confined  to  the  Chinese,  until  the 
reign  of  the  emperor  Justinian, 
15.  Pliny's  account  of;  Aristo- 
tle's account  of,  18.  Introduced 
into  Constantinople  by  two  Per- 
sian monks,  21.  Fed  with  the 
leaves  of  the  wild  mulberry 
tree,  ib.  Successfully  reared, 
in  different  parts  of  Greece,  23. 
Valuable  breed  of,  alone  pos- 


sessed by  the  Romans,  in  1146, 
25.  An  attempt  made  to  breed 
at  the  Tuileries,  Fontainebleau, 
and  the  castle  of  Madrid,  34. 
Attempts  made  in  England  to 
breed ;  became  a  subject  of  in- 
terest in  Virginia,  36.  In  Geor- 
gia and  South  Carolina,  38. 
Reared  successfully  at  Bauen- 
hoff,  in  Livonia;  an  attempt 
made  to  rear  in  Russia,  41. 
Reared  in  England  as  objects 
of  curiosity  and  amusement,  45. 
Solely  subsists  on  the  leaves  of 
the  mulberry  tree,  86.  The 
number  of  broods  annually  rear- 
ed in  Asia,  in  the  Isle  of  France, 
and  in  Tuscany,  91.  Its  small 
desire  of  locomotion,  96.  A  de- 
scription of,  after  moulting,  98. 
Spinning,  a  description  of,  99. 
Count  Dandolo's  account  of  the 
various  changes  of,  101.  Sudden 
transitions  from  cold  to  heat  in- 
jurious to;  Dr.  Anderson's  ac- 
count of  the  evolutions  of,  ib. 
Length  of,  at  different  ages,  106. 
Injuriously  affected  by  change 
of  climate;  varieties  of,  107. 
Mode  of  rearing,  in  China; 
sometimes  reared  on  trees,  108, 

109.  Situation  of  rearing  rooms  ; 
number  of  meals  in  the  day ; 
necessity  of  preventing  damp, 

110.  Cleanliness  necessary  in 
the  rearing  of,  111.  Space  al- 
lotted to,  ib.  Building  employed 
in  India  for  the  rearing  of,  ib. 
Mode  of  rearing  in  Europe; 
great  degree  of  carefulness  re- 
quired in  the  rearing  of,  112. 
Absurdities  formerly  believed 
concerning,  113.  Manner  of  con- 
veying to  a  considerable  distance, 
116.  Necessity  of  classing  ac- 
cording to  their  ages,  117.  Regu- 
lation of  temperature  in  the 
apartments  of,  while  forming 
their  cocoons  ;  will  not  spin  in  a 
cold  atmosphere,  131.  Effect  of 
noise  on;  electric  influence  of, 
121, 122.  Labor  required  in  the 
rearing  of,  131.  Diseases  of,  132. 
Light  not  injurious  to,  135.  De- 
scription of  apartments  allotted 


276 


INDEX. 


to  them  in  cottages ;  ill  effects  | 
which  arise  to  their  attendants, 
136.  Attempts  made  to  substi- 
tute other  food  for  mulberry- 
leaves,  137.  I 
Sub-sericum,  a  mixture  of  silk  | 
with  other  fibres,  worn  in  Rome, 
19. 

Swayne,  Rev.  Mr.,  his  apparatus 
for,  during  their  caterpillar  state, 
117.  His  experiment  as  to  the 
relative  merits  of  different  kinds 
of  nourishment  for  silkworms, 
138. 

Sweden,  an  attempt  made  to  rear 

silkworms  in,  43. 
Swinburne,  travels  in  Calabria,  87. 
Switzerland,  rapid  progress  of  the 

silk  manufacture  in,  53. 
Symmer,  Mr.,  his  experiments  on 

the  electric  properties  of  silk, 

249. 

T. 

Temple,  Sir  William,  his  account 

of  the  trade  of  Antwerp,  31. 
Theophanes,  his  notice  of  silk,  17. 
Thome,  Mons.,  his  observations  on 

engrafting  mulberry  trees,  90. 
Throwing,  art  of,  brought  from 

Italy ;  improvements  since  made, 

165. 

Throwsters,  silk,  incorporated  in 
London,  56. 

Thuanus,  his  account  of  the  in- 
troduction of  silk  into  France, 
30. 

Tram,  a  description  of  thrown  silk, 
166. 

Turkey  supplies  England  with  raw 
silk,  53. 

Tuscany,  two  broods  of  worms 
reared  in  the  year  there,  91. 

U. 

Utrecht,  the  treaty  of,  59. 
V. 

Vaucanson,  Mons.,  engaged  by 
the  French  government;  con- 
trives a  machine  similar  to  that 


of  the  Venetians,  for  producing 
damasqaitte,  233. 

Velvet,  French,  superiority  of;  its 
first  introduction  into  England ; 
Chinese,  inferior  to  that  manu- 
factured in  Europe,  225.  The 
structure  of;  process  of  weaving, 
226,  227.  Sometimes  woven 
with  stripes,  228.    German,  ib. 

Ven-hien-tung,  Chinese  historian, 
19. 

Venice,  commercial  relation  of, 
with  the  Greek  empire  ;  supplies 
the  west  of  Europe  with  silk, 
24.  Manufacture  of  silk  in  high 
esteem ;  practised  w  ithout  degra- 
dation by  the  higher  classes,  28. 

Virginia,  a  considerable  number  of 
mulberry  trees  planted  in,  but 
little  silk  produced,  37. 

W, 

Warping  machine,  description  of; 
manner  in  which  it  is  worked, 
183. 

Weavers,  stocking,  incorporated  by 
-  royal  ordinance  in  France,  49. 

Weaving,  plain,  antiquity  of,  in- 
volved in  obscurity,  178.  Little 
improvement  in  the  apparatus 
for,  179.  Indian,  manner  of ; 
figure,  the  art  of,  192.  Antiquity 
of;  practised  by  the  Egyptians 
at  an  early  period,  194.  Methods 
of,  ib.  Superiority  of  the  French 
patterns,  214.    Power,  215. 

Welter  discovers  "  the  bitter  prin- 
ciple," 245. 

Westrum,  his  investigations  of  the 
chemical  properties  of  silk,  246. 

Williams,  Mrs.,  account  of  various 
trials  which  she  made  of  vege- 
table substances  as  substitutes 
for  mulberry  leaves  in  feeding 
silkworms,  140. 

Winding  machine  described,  168, 

Z. 

Zonaras,  his  notice  of  silk,  17. 
Zurich,  extensive  silk  manufacture 
of,  54. 


THE  END. 


DR.  LARDNER'S 

CABINET  CYCLOPAEDIA. 


TO  BE  PUBLISHED  IN  MONTHLY  VOLUMES,  COMMENCING  IN 
FEBRUARY. 


Messrs'.  Carey  &  Lea  request  the  attention  of  the  Public  to  the 
following  Selection  from  the  numerous  List  of  Contributors  to  this 
Work. 

CONDUCTOR. 

REV.  DIONYSIUS  LARDNER,  LL.D.  F.R.S.  L.&E. 
M.  R.  I.  A.  F.  L.  S.  M.  Z.  S.  Hon.  F.  C.  P.  S.  M.  Ast.  S.  &c. 

LITERATURE. 

Riffht  Hon.  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  LL.D.  F.R.  S.  M.  P. 
Sir  Walter  Scott,  Bart.  Pres.  R.  S.  E.  &  F.  R.  S. 
Thomas  Moore,  Esq. 
Maria  Edgeworth. 

Rev.  Connop  Thirlwall,  Fellow  of  Trin.  Coll.  Cambridge. 
S.  T.  Coleridge,  Esq. 

Rev.  Thomas  Dale,  A.M.  Professor  of  English  Literature,  &c 
Henry  Roscoe  Esq. 

&c.  &c.  &c. 

SCIENCE  AND  ART. 

J.  F.  W.  Herschel,  Esq.  F.  R.  S.  L.  &  E.  M.  R.  I.  A.  F.  G.  S.  M.  A.  S.  See. 
David  Brewster,  LL.  D.  F.  R.  S.  Sec.  R.  S.  E.  &c 
Davies  Gilbert,  Esq.  M.  P.  Pres.  of  the  Royal  Society. 
Captain  Henry  Kater,  V.  P. R.  S.  &c. 

J.  J.  Berzelius,  F.R.S.  Ass.  Inst.  Fr.  Prof,  of  Chemistry,  Stockholm 

Captain  Francis  Beaufort,  R.  N.  F.  R.  S.  F.  G.  S.  M.  Ast.  S.  &c. 

Thos.  Bell,  Esq.  F.  R.  S.  F.  L.  S.  M.  Z.  S.  F.  G.  S. 

Edw.  Turner  Bennett,  Esq.  F.  L.  S.  Vice  Sec.  Z.  S. 

J  as.  E.  Bicheno,  Esq.  F.  L.  S.  Sec.  L.  S.  F.  G.  S.  M.  Z.  S. 

J.  G.  Children,  Esq.  F.  R.  S.  F.  L.  S.  F.  G.  S.  M.  Z.  S.  &c 

George  Dollond,  Esq.  F.  R.  S. 

M.  Donovan,  Esq.  M.  R.  I.  A. 

Rev.  John  Fleming,  D.  D.  F.  R.  S.  E.  M.  W.  S.  &c. 

Rev.  H.  P.  Hamilton,  F.  R.  S.  L.  &  E.  Fellow  of  Trin.  Coll.  Cambridge. 

T.  Horsfield,  M.  D.  F.  R.  S.  F.  L.  S.  F.  G.  S.  M.  Z.  S.  &c. 

John  Landseer,  Esq.  F.  A.  S.  A.  R.  A.  &c. 

Armand  Levi,  Esq.  F.  G.  S. 

John  Lindley,  Esq.  F.  R.  S.  F.  L.  S.  F.  G.  S.  Ass.  Sec.  H.  S. 

Wm.  Sharpe  Macleay,  Esq.  F.  L.S.  M.  Z.  S. 

Nicholas  Harris  Nicolas,  Esq. 

William  Young  Ottley,  F.  A.  S.  &c. 

John  Pond,  Esq.  F.  R.  S.  &c.  Astronomer  Royal. 

Rev.  W.  Pearson,  LL.D.  F.R.S.  &c. 

Rev.  T.  R.  Robinson,  D.  D.  Professor  of  Astronomy,  Armagh. 
Captain  Edward  Sabine,  Roy.  Art.  Sec.  R.  S.  &c. 
Joseph  Sabine,  Esq.  F.  R.  S.  F.  L.  S.  Sec.  H.  S.  M.  Z.  S. 
George  B.  Sowerby,  Esq.  F.  L.  S.  M.  Z.  S. 
Edward  Troughton,  Esq.  F.  R.  S.  &c. 

Edward  Turner,  M.  D.  F.  R.  S.  E.  &c.  Professor  of  Chemistry. 
N.  A.  Vigors,  Esq.  F.R.S.  F.L.S.  F.G.S.  Sec.Z.S. 
Wm.  Wilkins,  LL.  D.  R.  A.  &c. 
Wm.  Yarrell,  Esq.  F.  L.  S.  31.  Z.  S. 

&c.  &c.  &c. 

A  1 


DR.  LARDNER'S  CABINET  CYCLOPAEDIA. 


The  following  Volumes,  among  others,  are  in  prepa 
lation,  and  will  appear  at  an  early  period  in  the  pro 
gress  of  the  work. 

History  of  Scotland — 2  Vols.  By  Sir  Walter  Scott.  (The 
1st  Volume  will  appear  in  February.) 

The  History  of  Maritime  Discovery — 2  Vols. 

The  Lives  of  British  Statesmen  —  3  Vols.  By  the  Right 
Hon.  Sir  James  Mackintosh. 

A  Treatise  on  Astronomy  —  1  Vol.  By  J.  F.  W.  Herschel, 
Esq.  F.R.S.  L.  &E.  &c.  &c.  (It  is  intended  that  the 
scientific  treatises  shall  be  written  in  a  popular  and  gene- 
rally intelligible  style,  entirely  free  from  mathematical 
symbols,  and  disencumbered  as  far  as  possible  of  technical 
phrases.  That  they  will  not,  however,  be  superficial  or 
unsound,  the  publishers  trust  is  guarantied  by  the  names 
of  the  eminent  persons  who  have  undertaken  to  write 
them.) 

History  of  England  —  3  Vols.  By  the  Right  Hon.  Sir 
James  Mackintosh. 

The  Useful  Arts  —  Baking,  Brewing,  Distilling,  Wine- 
making,  &c.  —  1  Vol.  By  M.  Donovan,  Esq.  M.  R.  I.  A, 

History  of  Ireland  —  1  Vol.  By  Thomas  Moore,  Esq. 

A  Treatise  on  Light  —  1  Vol.  By  David  Brewster,  LL.  D. 
F.R.S.  &c. 

History  of  Greece  —  2  Vols.  By  the  Rev.  Connop  Thirl- 

wall,  Fell.  Trin.  Coll.  Cam. 
Lives  of  Eminent  British  Lawyers  —  1  Vol.  By  Henry 

Roscoe,  Esq. 

A  Treatise  on  Mechanics  —  1  Vol.    By  Dr.  Lardner. 


The  publication  of  the  work  will  commence  in  Feb- 
ruary with  the  First  Volume  of  the  History  of  Scot- 
land, in  Two  Volumes,  by  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

A  Prospectus,  explanatory  of  the  plan  and  design  of 
the  work,  may  be  had  at  all  the  Booksellers. 
2 


PROSPECTUS 


OF  THE 


CABINET  CYCLOPAEDIA. 


CONDUCTED  BY  THE 

REV.  DIONYSIUS  LARDNER,  LL.D.  F.R.S.  L.  &  E. 

M.R.I.  A.  F.L.S.  F.Z.S.  Hon.  F.C.P.S.  M.Ast.S.  &c.  &c. 

ASSISTED  BY 


EMINENT  LITERARY  AND  SCIENTIFIC  MEN. 


1.  The  work  will  be  continued  in  Monthly  Volumes,  royal  18mo. 

2.  The  quantity  of  letter-press  will  vary  with  the  number  and  expense  of 

the  plates.  When  no  plates  are  necessary,  the  letter-press  will  vary 
from  300  to  350  pages. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PRINTED  FOR  CAREY  &  LEA, 
AND  FOR  SALE  BY  ALL  BOOKSELLERS 


This  work  is  intended  to  form  a  popular  compendium  of  whatever  is 
useful,  instructive,  and  interesting,  in  the  circle  of  human  knowledge.  A 
novel  plan  of  publication  and  arrangement  will  be  adopted,  which  will 
present  peculiar  advantages.  Without  fully  detailing  the  method,  a  few  of 
tMse  advantages  may  be  mentioned. 

Each  volume  will  contain  one  or  more  subjects  uninterrupted  and  un- 
broken, and  will  be  accompanied  by  the  corresponding  plates  or  other  appro- 
priate illustrations.  Facility  of  reference  will  be  obtained  without  fettering 
the  work  by  a  continued  alphabetical  arrangement.  A  subscriber  may  omit 
particular  volumes  or  sets  of  volumes,  without  disintegrating  his  series 
Thus  each  purchaser  may  form  from  the  "Cabinet"  a  Cyclopaedia,  more  or 
less  comprehensive,  as  may  suit  his  means,  taste,  or  profession.  If  a  sub 
scriber  desire  to  discontinue  the  work  at  any  stage  of  its  publication,  the 
volume?  which  he  may  have  received  will  not  lose  their  value  by  separation 
from  the  rest  of  the  work,  since  they  will  always  either  be  complete  in 
themselves,  or  may  be  made  so  at  a  trifling  expense. 

The  purchasers  will  never  find  their  property  in  this  work  destroyed  by 
the  publication  of  a  second  edition.  The  arrangement  is  such  that  particu 
lar  volumes  may  be  re-edited  or  re-written  without  disturbing  the  others. 
The  "  Cabinet  Cyclopaedia"  will  thus  be  in  a  state  of  continual  renova* 
tion,  keeping  pace  with  the  never-ceasing  improvements  in  knowledge, 
drawing  within  its  circle  from  year  to  year  whatever  is  new,  and  casting 
off  whatever  is  obsolete,  so  as  to  form  a  constantly  modernized  Cyclopaedia. 
Such  are  a  few  of  the  advantages  which  the  proprietors  have  to  offer  to  the 
public,  and  which  they  pledge  themselves  to  realize. 

Treatises  on  subjects  which  are  technical  and  professional  will  be  adapt, 
ed,  not  so  much  to  those  who  desire  to  attain  a  practical  proficiency,  as  to 
those  who  seek  that  portion  of  information  respecting  such  matters  which 


is  generally  expected  from  well-educated  parsons.  An  interest  will  be  im- 
parted to  what  is  abstract  by  copious  illustrations,  and  thy  sciences  will  be 
rendered  attractive,  by  treating  them  with  reference  to  the  most  familiar 
objects  and  occurrences. 

The  unwieldy  bulk  of  Encycl  jpaedias,  not  less  than  the  abstruse  discus- 
sions which  they  contain,  has  hitherto  consigned  them  to  the  library,  as 
works  of  only  occasional  reference.  The  present  work,  from  its  portable 
form  and  popular  style,  will  claim  a  place  in  the  drawing-room  and  the  bou- 
doir. Forming  in  itself  a  Complete  Library,  affording  an  extensive  and  in- 
finitely varied  store  of  instruction  and  amusement,  presenting  just  so  much 
on  every  subject  as  those  not  professionally  engaged  in  it  require,  conve- 
nient in  size,  attractive  in  form,  elegant  in  illustrations,  and  most  moderate 
in  expense,  the  "Cabinet  Cyclopaedia"  will,  it  is  hoped,  be  found  an  object 
of  paramount  interest  in  every  family. 

To  the  heads  of  schools  and  all  places  of  public  education  the  proprietors 
trust  that  this  work  will  particularly  recommend  itself. 

It  seems  scarcely  necessary  to  add,  that  nothing  will  be  admitted  into  the 
pages  of  the  "  Cabinet  Cyclopedia"  which  can  have  the  most  remote  ten- 
dency to  offend  public  or  private  morals.  To  enforce  the  cultivation  of  re- 
ligion and  the  practice  of  virtue  should  be  a  principal  object  with  all  who 
undertake  to  inform  the  public  mind;  but  with  the  views  just  explained, 
the  conductor  of  this  work  feels  these  considerations  more  especially  pressed 
upon  his  attention.  Parents  and  guardians  may,  therefore,  rest  assured 
that  they  will  never  find  it  necessary  to  place  a  volume  of  the  "  Cabinet" 
beyond  the  reach  of  their  children  or  pupils. 

The  Cabinet  Cyclopedia  not  being  intended  to  be  formed  of  materials 
merely  compiled  from  works  already  published,  but  to  consist,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, of  original  treatises,  from  the  pens  of  those  who  are  most  eminent  in 
every  branch  of  knowledge,  the  Conductor,  for  obvious  reasons,  cannot 
pledge  himself  to  the  precise  extent  of  each  department,  nor  even  to  nil  the 
subjects  which  it  may  be  found  advantageous  to  introduce  or  omit.  Never- 
theless, it  may  be  desirable  to  exhibit  the  plan  and  principal  divisions  of  the 
work,  as  they  at  present  suggest  themselves. 

I.  The  Cabinet  op  Natural  Philosophy.  — Including  Pure  Mathematics, 

the  several  branches  of  Physics  —  Chemistry,  &c.  8  Vols. 

II.  The  Cabinet  op  Arts.  —  The  Fine  Arts  —  the  Useful  Arts  —  Manu- 
factures, &c.  10  Vols. 

III.  The  Cabinet  op  Natural  History.  —  Zoology  —  Botany  — Mine- 
ralogy —  Geology.  14  Vols. 

IV.  The  Cabinet  of  Geography.  —  The  History  of  Geographical  Dis- 
covery —  Descriptive  Geography  —  Physical  Geography.  6  Vols. 

V.  The  Cabinet  of  Philosophy.  —  Political  and  Moral  —  Religion  — 

Education,  &c.  6  Vols. 

VI.  The  Cabinet  of  Literature.  —  Language  —  Belles  Lettres  —  Histo- 
ries of  Literature.  6  Vols. 

VII.  The  Cabinet  of  History. —  Histories  of  various  Countries  —  Anti- 
quities —  Manners  and  customs  —  Mythology  —  Chronuioffv,  &,c. 
22  Vols. 

VIII.  The  Cabinet  of  Biography.  —  Political,  Military,  Naval,  Religious, 
Scientific,  Poetical,  Classical,  &c.  20  Vols. 

IX.  The  Cabinet  Dictionary  of  Literature,  Science,  and  Art.  6  Vols. 

The  extent  here  assigned  to  the  work  may  be  considered  on  the  whole  as 
one  which  it  will  not  surpass,  although  it  may  be  found  expedient  in  some 
of  the  departments  to  abridge,  and  in  others  to  extend,  the  assigned  limits 
Facility  of  reference  will  be  obtained  by  annexing  to  each  volume  a  copious 
Index ;  and  the  Ninth  Division  will  form  in  itself  a  compact  Cyclopedia, 
in  which  every  name  and  term  of  Art  will  be  alphabetically  arranged,  and 
ace  npanied  by  a  short  notice  or  explanation,  together  with  a  reference  to 
that  volume  of  the  work  in  which  a  more  detailed  account  may  be  found. 

Since  the  plan  of  the  work  does  not  render  a  particular  order  of  publica- 
tion necessary,  the  volumes  will  not  succeed  each  other  according  to  the 
above  scheme:  such  subjects  will  appear  from  time  to  time  as  will  sustain 
an  interest  by  variety  during  the  period  of  publication. 

4 


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